Grimes praises Jay-Z’s streaming company TIDAL

Jay-Z’s new streaming service TIDAL has come under a great deal of fire from the music industry lately. Mumford & Sons, Tyler The Creator, and Marina and The Diamonds have all criticised aspects of TIDAL, and their reasons range from skepticism towards the company’s incredibly wealthy shareholders, to a launch night that “came off as weird.”

Jay-Z responded directly over the weekend in a “stream of consciousness” series of quick-fire tweets defending the venture. “Please give us a chance,” he wrote, “our actions will speak louder than words.”

Now Grimes has joined the discussion, too, bringing nothing but praise to the table. As Grimes noted in the interest of full disclosure, though she is signed to label 4AD, she is managed by Jay-Z’s Roc Nation. Her full statement, which appeared as a since-deleted comment on her Instagram page, is below:

“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 y’all have the option to pay the same rate as other streaming [platforms.] 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 you 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. [And] sorry it has created so much anger amongst y’all.”

Listen to Grimes’ ‘REALiTi’ below: