Sony Music CEO: No Plans To Remove Beyonce’s Music From Tidal, We’re Rooting For Jay Z To Succeed

THE TWO SIDES ARE CURRENTLY STILL NEGOTIATING LICENSING AGREEMENTS

(AllHipHop News) Last week reports began circulating claiming if Sony Music’s pending licensing negotiations with Tidal were unsuccessful then the streaming platform could lose Beyoncé’s and other Sony artists’ discographies. That lost would have been a major embarrassment for the service considering the singer is a part owner and the wife of the company’s public face Jay Z.

[ALSO READ: Report: Beyonce’s Music Could Be Pulled From Tidal]

Sony Music CEO Doug Morris spoke with Billboard about the possibility that Tidal users may not be able to listen to the former Destiny Child member’s albums such as Dangerously In Love and Beyoncé. According to Morris, the Bey Hive should not worry about Tidal loosing their favorite performer. He publicly announced his support for Tidal and Jay Z as well.

“Jay Z is a friend and business associate for many years,” stated Morris. “I have always admired his business acumen, his entrepreneurship and his passion for music. All of our content, including Beyoncé, is available through the Tidal service, and we have announced no plans to remove our catalog from Tidal. Like all of our other partners, we are rooting for Jay and Tidal to succeed.”

Tidal and Sony are still negotiating terms for the use of the corporation’s extensive catalog of music. The Verge recently obtained a copy of Sony’s contract with the Tidal competitor Spotify. The documents showed that Spotify paid $42.5 million in advances to Sony, and Sony was guaranteed a “Most Favored Nation” clause. That addition ensured Sony would maintain a better deal with Spotify than other music companies for the length of their contract.

It was also discovered that Spotify pays $0.00225 – $0.0025 per stream from the 30 million users (75% of all users) of its free service. After a Tidal representative revealed to AllHipHop.com that their service pays out a royalty per stream of $0.024 – $0.028, it was determined Tidal’s $9.99 or $19.99 tiers’ royalty payouts are nearly ten times the amount of Spotify’s no cost tier.

[ALSO READ: Spotify’s Contract With Sony Music Leaks – How Does Spotify’s Stream Payout Compare To Jay Z’s Tidal?]