TIDAL is Raising the Ante by Bringing Prince, Beyonce & Jay Z Together in an All-Star Concert

Despite persistent rumors that streaming music service TIDAL is struggling in the face of stiff competition from YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify, the Jay Z-owned platform is pulling out all the stops to celebrate its recent milestone of reaching one million paying subscribers. On October 20, 2015, TIDAL will host “TIDAL X: 1020 Amplified by HTC,” an all-star concert featuring Beyonce, Prince, Usher, Lil Wayne, Nicki Minaj, T.I., Fabolous, Jay, himself, and many more. The event will take place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY, and all of the proceeds will be donated to the New World Foundation, which is “dedicated to advancing positive community relations and effecting systemic change for the development and sustainability of just societies.” Tickets go on sale today (9/30) for TIDAL subscribers, and will be open to the general public on Friday (10/2).

beyonce-and-prince-portable

Jay Z purchased TIDAL earlier this year, and the revamped service was launched with great fanfare at a press event attended by Madanna, Rihanna, Kanye West, Usher, J. Cole, Deadmau5, Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, Beyonce and Jay. The music service was positioned as for artists, by artists, but there was an immediate backlash. Many saw the artists as rich and entitled and were angry about the services high cost and lack of a free option that was present to competitors like Spotify. Subsequently, serious questions about TIDAL’s financial viability also began circulating. It’s lack of instant success, fierce competition from the newly-launched Apple Music, and even disharmony within the music industry, such as Birdman suing the service for $30 million because of its release of a Lil Wayne mixtape, has led many to write the fledgling service off.

Regardless of the rumors, this event is a powerful move. Does it signal a stake in the ground or a last ditch effort? Only time will tell. Here’s the line up for TIDAL X.

TIDAL-concert

Related: Can You Knock The Hustle?… Jay Z Pulls Reasonable Doubt From Spotify, Onto Tidal