Kanye West released a new album last month. Called The Life of Pablo, the new album was launched as a Tidal exclusive. He later tweeted that his album will “never be on Apple” and that his fans could only get it on Tidal. He seems to have taken a U-turn as a track from The Life of Pablo has now been released on Apple Music. It’s not just Apple Music, the track “Famous” is also available to those who subscribe to Google Play Music and Spotify.
West had only specifically mentioned Apple in his tweet when he said that his new album will only be available through Tidal, and that’s what makes this more interesting.
No reason has been provided as yet as to why a track from his new album has been released on Apple Music even when the man himself said that this wouldn’t ever happen. I should point out here that the track is not available for purchase via the iTunes Store even though it can be streamed on Apple Music.
Tidal has counted on exclusive releases from some of the biggest stars in music like Prince, Beyonce and West, to compete against established streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. Kanye appears to have stuck with the agenda so far and it remains to be seen whether his album will gradually make its way to other services in its entirety at some point down the line.