Arcade Fire’s Win Butler admits TIDAL was “poorly launched”

Back in March, lots of famous musicians stood in the same room, in an orderly fashion, and signed a piece of paper that said nothing in particular. Nobody quite knew why, except that it was for TIDAL, the Jay Z-owned streaming service that’s since run into high-profile problems since its big opening party.

Months on, Arcade Fire’s Win Butler has admitted that the launch didn’t go exactly to plan.

Speaking to The Independent on Sunday, Butler called the experience “poorly managed”, saying: “Conceptually the thing that we liked about TIDAL was that it’s HD streaming quality.”

He went on to justify TIDAL’s $20 a month subscription, which has been accused of not being exclusive. “The major label music industry has completely ruined every aspect of their business. At every step of the way they’ve had the tools offered to them to create an industry that works, and they’ve completely blown it. That’s why we never had any interest in signing a contract with one of these companies because they’re clearly completely clueless,” he said.