Yahoo Finance 
Jay Z is relaunching his streaming site with support from Kanye West, Rihanna, and Nicki Minaj
(Getty Images Entertainment)
Jay Z is preparing to relaunch his newly-acquired music streaming service Tidal today, with the support of numerous A-list musicians including Kanye West, Madonna, Nicki Minaj and Daft Punk.
Jay-Z bought Tidal earlier this year for a reported $56 million. The Swedish company lets users stream music to their computers and smartphones — but unlike rival Spotify, there is no free, ad-supported option.
After the acquisition was finalised, Jay Z met with a number of high-profile musicians to discuss the platform, including Beyoncé, Kanye West, Daft Punk, Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Jack White, and Chris Martin (of Coldplay). All the attendees have now changed their display pictures on Twitter to a light cyan-blue, and many have posted messages indicating their support for the music platform ahead of a formal relaunch this afternoon:
Together, we can turn the tide and make music history. Start by turning your profile picture blue. #TIDALforALL
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) March 30, 2015
Together, we can turn the tide and make music history. Start by turning your profile picture blue. #TIDALforALL
— NICKI MINAJ (@NICKIMINAJ) March 30, 2015
If you want to join us in something exciting, please turn your profile blue #TIDALforALL PH pic.twitter.com/1IxBJnMTGH
— Coldplay (@coldplay) March 30, 2015
Taylor Swift has not turned her profile blue — but she is also confirmed to be bringing her music to Tidal. The country-turned-pop singer has previously made headlines over a falling out with rival streaming service Spotify. She said that its free ad-supported model degraded music, and she thinks "there should be an inherent value placed on art."
Tidal aims to differentiate itself by offering music at a significantly higher quality than that found on other streaming platforms. On its website it describes itself as "the first music streaming service that combines the best High Fidelity sound quality, High Definition music videos and expertly Curated Editorial." The platform has previously offered subscribers exclusively editorial content, articles and interviews with musicians — and it sounds like the newly relaunched platform will include similar.
Jay Z has previously experimented with launching new music through new platforms. In a partnership with Samsung in 2013, the rapper released his new album to Samsung phone owners if they downloaded a promotional app. It's not known whether he will do something similar with Tidal, though it could help drum up interest in the platform.
Jay Z's record label says there will be a "special announcement" on Monday afternoon:
Join #JAYZ @S_C_ live on Monday, March 30th, at 5 PM EST for a special announcement.
— Roc Nation (@RocNation) March 28, 2015
More From Business Insider
