Beloved indie singer Grimes continued the social-media Tidal defense effort started by Jay Z over the weekend with an Instagram post Sunday night (April 26). She elaborated in a comment on how she has “mad respect” for the much-maligned streaming service, sharing her thoughts about fairness in artist compensation and the music industry alongside a screenshot of one of Jay’s tweets.
The move might at first come as a surprise, until you remember that Grimes is a Roc Nation-managed artist.
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The comment was deleted soon after, though the screenshot remains. Read her comment here, via Pigeons and Planes:
“Mad respect for tidal!! I literally know musicians who live in cars and storage spaces etc. And I know some pretty popular musicians who still struggle to make ends meet. Unless artists have a popular live show there aren’t a lot of income streams available. People have characterized tidal negatively but I promise it’s 100% artist friendly, and fan friendly since yall have the option to pay the same rate as other streaming respect to everyone involved for doing the right thing for struggling artists – this kind of thing is so important, especially for indie music! PS I AM SIGNED TO 4AD!! The misconception that I am not an independent artist anymore is incorrect, i can speak as an independent artist here. Roc nation manages me, I’m not signed to them nor do I have any investment in tidal, nor did anyone ask me to say this. Ps to everyone who buys music respect! Glad to hear many of u buy music rather than stream which is the best way to support smaller artists! ^_^ and also, for those who can’t afford streaming or buying music, I do not judge anyone for that! This is a suggestion, not a demand, in sorry it has created so much anger amongst yall”