Tidal trolled Apple during a live Drake performance
(Tim P. Whitby/Getty Images)
Drake performs on day 1 of the New Look Wireless Festival at Finsbury Park on July 3, 2015 in London, England.
Tidal, the music-streaming platform co-owned by Jay Z and a cohort of top-tier music stars, has apparently chosen to air its alleged grievances with Apple in an unusual way.
Drake, an Apple Music artist, appeared at a charity event in New Orleans that was live-streamed on Tidal Friday night.
Tidal, which has struggled to gain footing in a crowded section of the streaming space, has had a rough go of it since it launched in March.
The platform lost Drake to Apple Music earlier this year, and since Tidal's debut, it has faced critical and consumer rebuke for the way the product was introduced to the public.
Several corporate resignations — along with tepid interest in the product — have often put Tidal on the defensive. Jay Z himself has often answered the critics with terse social media messages, or, in at least one instance, with a freestyle rap that slammed competitors like Spotify and Apple Music.
The "beef," if you will, crept up again Friday night, during a live stream of rapper Lil Wayne's Hurricane Katrina charity concert, "Lil WeezyAna." Drake, who is an Apple Music artist, was set to perform on stage.
Business Insider viewed the live stream Friday night. At around 11 p.m. Eastern time, Lil Wayne announced a guest artist — not by name, but with a brief musical introduction — and that's when the stream abruptly stopped and this message appeared:
"Apple is interfering with artistry and will not allow this artist to stream. Sorry for big brother's inconvenience."
(Tidal/Screenshot)
Less than 30 minutes later, the stream returned with fireworks and a big band performance on stage.
Media reports suggest Apple did not interfere with Drake's appearance at the event. Apple has not commented on the stream interruption and a request for comment from Tidal went unanswered.
The "Lil WeezyAna" event was held to benefit kids affected by Hurricane Katrina — the 10th anniversary of which has been commemorated nationwide during the past week.
Despite all of Tidal's troubles, the streaming service soldiers on. Madonna, who is a co-owner, acknowledged Tidal's difficulty in an interview with the Associated Press last month, saying "It's just the beginning, so we're working out a lot of kinks ... we're going to build something unique and amazing that's going to attract a lot of people."
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