Jack White defends Tidal streaming service: 'What is elitist about it?'

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/may/20/jack-white-defends-tidal-what-is-elitist

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Launched by a lineup of megastars and backed by Jay Z, the streaming service Tidal has been much-mocked. Even Mumford & Sons described the musicians who endorsed it – including Madonna, Daft Punk and Rihanna – as “new school fucking plutocrats”, while Lily Allen said the service’s $19.99 monthly fee would send listeners “back to pirate sites”.

However, Jack White, who was among the lineup of musicians at the launch, has come to the service’s defence on a Tidal-themed Q&A with fans on Third Man Records’ website. White is putting his label’s artists on Jay Z’s service, whose USP is higher-quality sound than rival streaming sites and, it says, a fairer deal for musicians than they would get from the likes of Spotify and YouTube.

Responding to a fan who said “I have zero interest in making Jay Z more money,” White said that the site was “not about the rich getting richer”.

Referring to the launch, White said: “It takes artists that can get people’s attention to be able to make a scenario possible for those artists that don’t have a voice to get in a position where they aren’t struggling, and believe me Third Man Records is full of artists the mainstream’s never heard of and have no voice or power in the system.

“Have you heard of Rachelle Garnier? what about the Smoke Fairies? Drakkar Sauna? Pujol? The Gories? Those are just some of the up and coming artists on Third Man that try to make a living in music. And if you stream their songs … they get paid for it. And they get to LIVE and not take second jobs … and make MORE music! I support keeping musicians you love in business.”

Replying to a fan who said that Tidal is elitist, White responded: “What is elitist about it? Who’s speaking for the little guy?”

He added: “Tidal is going to help a lot of artists out. I’m talking about the punk band that has 50k hits on Youtube and doesn’t see a dime.”

White said that while many listeners now expect to get records for free, making them is expensive. “There’s a lot of misinformation about music in the last decade, people know that it costs a lot of money to make a superhero movie, but they don’t know that it costs millions to make a country album too.”

White responded to a fan who said he refused to pay for music by asking: “How much did you pay for that last movie you saw at the theater? And how much did that movie cost to make? Don’t devalue musicians man, support them. Making records is expensive, believe us. I don’t see people saying we should go to the movies for free, or Netflix should be free. That state of music is in flux, be on the side of supporting creativity, not taking from it. [Tidal] gives you that chance.”

White also said that even successful musicians deserved payment for their work. “Do we tell Steven Spielberg we don’t need to pay him anymore to watch his movies? He’s made enough off of us right? He should show his new films for free right? Haha.”

White said that he got on with the rest of the musicians who launched Tidal, which also included Alicia Keys, Deadmau5 and Madonna. “We spent all last night talking and discussing ways to make it very cool.”

Referring to the services enhanced sound, White wrote: “Here’s the shocker: musicians want you to hear their music in the best ways possible. We mix on very nice speakers and systems only to have 90% of it be heard on tiny components that cut out half the information.”