Grimes has ‘mad respect’ for Tidal

It feels odd to describe a business set up by multi-millionaires as "embattled", but Jay Z-owned streaming service Tidal hasn't exactly got off to the best start. There was that press conference announcing its launch, followed by a flurry of artists criticising it. It was already declared an unprecedented flop last week. But Grimes is one artist who appears to be firmly behind it. 

The "REALiTi" singer posted an Instagram screenshot of Hov's tweet defending Tidal's policy on artist royalties, which are far higher than Spotify rates. (Full disclosure: Grimes is signed to 4AD as a recording artist, but she is also signed to Roc Nation, Jay Z's management label.)

In a now-deleted comment, she added: "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."

She added: "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.

Jay Z hit Twitter on Sunday to defend his business baby, using the hashtag #TidalFacts to lay to rest some of the nasty rumours circling around the product. 

His long explanatory rant even spawned its own spoof Twitter account, @TIDALfacts:

The list of artists who have criticised the streaming service is pretty long. Tyler, the Creator, Steve Albini and Death Cab for Cutie have all been outspoken about Jay Z's bizarre idea to complain about artists not getting paid, then bringing out a load of really well-paid artists to launch the company.

Grimes hasn't explained why she deleted her pro-Tidal comment (was it the Illuminati?). But at least, for one brief moment, someone somewhere said they actually liked Tidal.