Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Roc NationJay Z is really trying to make Tidal happen. Just days after going on a Twitter rant aimed at convincing the world that the fledgling music service was not actually in trouble, he announced yet another, well, stunt to boost Tidal morale.
The rapper will be hosting an exclusive concert in New York City solely for Tidal subscribers. Hova himself will be performing, and he'll be unearthing songs from way way back in the day. The concert will be called Tidal X: Jay Z B-Sides, and include tracks that either have never been performed onstage, or haven't been part of his tour in a decade. Streaming users will have to create their own playlist through Tidal and tweet them out for a chance to win seats.
Several things come to mind here. For starters, this is actually a pretty cool opportunity. Jay Z concerts are incredibly special occasions (for his fans, that is), and the chance to see songs that no one else has seen performed will give you bragging rights for years. But it also seems like (or is) a thinly-veiled attempt at either gaining more Tidal subscribers, bribing current subscribers to stay, or both.
And, as savvy as they are, Jay's fans have caught on. They're not going to let some bait-and-switch smoke-and-mirrors ploy distract them from what's really happening here. No offense to Jay Z, but come on now. The jig is up, and these Twitter users want him to know.