The CEO of Sony Music group has spoken out after many reports claimed the label would not pass over Beyonce's music to Jay Z's new music streaming service, Tidal.
In an interview with Rolling Stone, CEO Doug Morris says he respects Jay Z and his vision for Tidal and has no plans to remove Bey's extensive catalog.
"Jay-Z is a friend and business associate for many years. I have always admired his business acumen, his entrepreneurship and his passion for music," Morris said in a statement. "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."
The rumors began earlier this week when Bloomberg News ran a profile about Tidal and its alleged troubles, stating Sony Music was refusing to release Beyonce and the rest of their artists' music to Tidal. Tidal's launch party in March featured Beyonce, Chris Martin and more acts signing a "declaration" to fight for the right for artists to own their music.
While streaming companies like Spotify and Pandora have been slammed for paying artists little to nothing to stream their music millions of times, Jay Z's "stream of consciousness" on Twitter confirmed artists on Tidal will receive a higher amount on the service.
Another source echoed Morris' statement, claiming the company has worked with other streaming companies to play their artists' music and Tidal is no exception.
"I don't know that it's even completely accurate," the source said. "Sony is regularly negotiating with partners. They took that point and obviously focused on one artist, which is inappropriate as well. This is a Sony Music issue and it'd be across Sony Music."
Source: Rolling Stone
