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Jay-Z may bail out of Tidal investment

A lawsuit from rapper and label owner, Birdman, could be Tidal's death knell. Photo: Getty

A lawsuit from rapper and label owner, Birdman, could be Tidal's death knell. Photo: Getty

Rumours out of the American music industry suggest that Jay-Z is looking to bail out of his multi-million dollar streaming service, Tidal.

Despite recent statements of support from megastars Madonna and Nicki Minaj, Hits Daily Double reported that the hip hop king has had enough of the venture because it’s draining his money.

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birdman rapper

A lawsuit from rapper and label owner, Birdman, could be Tidal’s death knell. Photo: Getty

Jay-Z  has significantly funded the ambitious streaming platform, however he’s never received any back-up cash he expected from other new investors keen to cash in on a burgeoning music empire.

Jay-Z purchased the service for $56 million in March to make it a private company co-owned by stars including Madonna, Kanye West and Rihanna. 

The whispers come a couple of weeks after Birdman’s Cash Money Records (CMR) group announced it was suing Tidal because it debuted a Lil’ Wayne track CMR had an exclusive deal with. 

But Tidal has been engulfed in controversy since Jay-Z took over.

The launch was supported by other high profile music stars such as Jack White and Chris Martin, but soon criticisms emerged from music followers who questioned why such successful artists needed to make more money from music.

However, Jay-Z and his stable of high profile industry supporters, maintain their service aims to give a platform and earning capability to lesser know artists. 

In the face of continued skepticism, Nicki Minaj tweeted her support for Tidal during the Taylor Swift Twitter drama: “I’m so glad u guys get to see how this stuff works. Taylor took her music off spotify and was applauded. We launched Tidal & were dragged.”

As of late June the service had 800,000 subscribers, compared to rival Spotify who boast around 20 million.

The company is now onto its third CEO. Two have quit in the time after the lavish launch in New York.

Earlier this month Apple began its own music streaming service to go up against Spotify.

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