Jay Z has been intent on getting into the music streaming game for a minute now, and he's finally succeeded. With his $56 million purchase of Scandinavian streaming company Aspiro, Hov acquired Tidal, which bills itself as a high-fidelity music streaming site, presumably to assuage the concerns of audiophiles skeptical of digital-only services. The purchase has led to a massive campaign from Jay and his music industry cohorts, who have been all over Twitter with bright blue profile pictures and glowing endorsements of the company. With the medium still in its relative infancy, there has been heated debate over how music streaming will fairly compensate artists and labels. Last year, Taylor Swift wrote an op-ed for the Wall Street Journal decrying the notion that music could be accessed for free; later, she pulled her catalog off of Spotify, the largest music streaming service. Save for her most recent album, 1989, all of Swift's work is available on Jay Z's Tidal.

The company's star-studded teaser commercial isn't the only big media blitz planned for today. At 5:00 p.m. EST, the company held a live-streamed event hosted by Jay himself that outlined in detail its philosophy behind and plans for the future. That video has been included below. It was already reported that Hov bought the streaming service. But today's announcement revealed Alicia Keys, Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Daft Punk, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J Cole, Win Butler, Régine Chassagne, Kanye West, Deadmau5, Madonna, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, and Usher all have ownership in the company. Tidal is also in a partnership with Sprint. Some features includes expertly curated playlists, high quality sound and video. Tidal is the "first-ever artist-owned global music and entertainment platform." Tidal will cost subscribers $19.99 per month for high fidelity service, or $9.99 for standard.

Update: Check out the two-minute Tidal commercial that debuted following the press conference.

Watch Jay Z's special announcement:

TIDAL Mission Statement:

Throughout history, every movement began with a few individuals banding together with a shared vision – a vision to change the status quo. That vision came to life with a first step. Our first step begins today through the platform TIDAL. TIDAL is an artist majority owned company with a mission to reestablish the value of music and protect the sustainability of the music industry rooted in creativity and expression. As part of our vision to introduce change to the current system, we will continue expanding this platform into an all-encompassing destination in the coming months. We are working diligently everyday to enhance the overall service. Today, the site incorporates high quality sound, video and exclusive editorial, but there are more features on the way. In time, TIDAL will not just be a streaming service but an immersive platform with enhanced experiences. With TIDAL we are making a commitment to build a platform that reflects ideas contributed directly from artists, providing an enriched experience. Music presented and heard the way the artists intended. We want our mission with TIDAL to spark conversation and lay a foundation for tomorrow's burgeoning stars. Our movement is being led by a few who are inviting all to band together for a common cause, a movement to change the status quo. Today marks the next step.

#TIDALforALL

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