By the power invested in Kanye, Tidal has hit number one.
With exclusive streaming rights to Kanye West’s new album The Life of Pablo firmly secured, Tidal has used that as a platform to jump to the top of Apple’s App Store charts as new users eager to hear the rapper’s latest work come on board as subscribers.
It’s the first time that the streaming service—which has endured a rocky start since it was relaunched by rapper Jay Z early last year—has hit number one on the app rankings, a point that West himself championed on his ever-active Twitter account:
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/699089796690534401
The rise of Tidal to the top was undoubtedly helped by West’s decision to hold back the sale of his latest album on his website for a week, giving the new streaming site true exclusivity over competitors like Spotify and Apple Music, and a golden chance to gain new subscribers:
https://twitter.com/kanyewest/status/698972107166892032
For those who may balk at the $9.99/month membership fee, there is also a way around that, thanks to another superstar artiste: Beyoncé. To promote the release of her own single “Formation,” you can head to a Tidal-Queen Bey partnered site, type in your name and email, and receive a 90-day free trial of the music service and a copy of Beyoncé’s Super Bowl-rocking song. (You can also thank Business Insider for the tip.)
Tidal’s new-found success, however, hasn’t been all that smooth. There are reports of users who have failed to receive the download link for The Life of Pablo even after paying for it, reported TechCrunch. In some cases, Tidal double-billed customers and still didn’t send the album download link.
@TIDALHiFi I bought #TLOP money out of bank and everything but never got email or download link! 2 hours after submitting ticket, nothing
— Groovy P (@pmakesmusic) February 14, 2016
Coins2Day has reached out to Tidal on the complaints from users, and will update this story if they respond.