Kanye West & Tidal Sued Over Exclusivity of ‘The Life of Pablo’

A California man is suing Kanye West and the music streaming service, Tidal, over the exclusivity of West’s latest album, The Life of Pablo. Justin Baker-Rhett filed his class-action lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on Monday and Baker-Rhett’s lawyer claimed in a statement to the Los Angeles Times that West “tricked millions of people into subscribing” to Tidal.

West tweeted in February that The Life of Pablo would never be released on Apple or be for sale. “You can only get it on Tidal,” he wrote. Then on April 1, the 38-year-old rapper released it for streaming on Spotify and Apple as well as selling a digital copy on his website.

Here’s everything you need to know about the lawsuit.

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1. The Lawsuit Claims West and Tidal Use Fraudulent Tactics to Gain Subscribers

Justin Baker-Rhett filed his class-action lawsuit against the defendants “S. Carter Enterprises LLC, a Delaware limited liability company, and Kanye West, an individual, together [doing business as] Tidal” in the U.S. District Court in San Francisco on April 18, according to the Los Angeles Times. The lawyer for Baker-Rhett believes they can prove to a jury that West and Tidal “tricked millions of people into subscribing to their services.”

The lawsuit also claims West’s promise of exclusivity for his album The Life of Pablo was a ruse to get more people to subscribe to Tidal, which was “teetering on the brink of collapse” in early 2016. Tidal tripled his users from one to three million subscribers in a month, the suit states.

The lawsuit states:

Using [publicly] available acquisitions as a comparable metric, the two million new users acquired as a result of its purportedly exclusive access to ‘The Life of Pablo’ are worth as much as $84 million to Tidal…

By early 2016, Tidal was quietly teetering on the brink of collapse. Many industry experts predicted its imminent demise absent a significant swell in users and a new round of publicity.

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2. Lawsuit Requests a Judge Order Tidal to Delete User Information for Plaintiff and Class Members

The two million new subscribers not only brought a financial gain to Tidal, but also gave the service access to their personal information, which it could share with record labels, artists on its platforms and other media companies, according to the lawsuit. This user information ranges from credit card information to a subscriber’s music preferences and other personal info.

“Mr. West’s promise of exclusivity also had a grave impact on consumer privacy,” the suit states.

The lawsuit also asks that a judge order Tidal to “delete the private information of Plaintiff and the Class members that it collected, cancel all outstanding negative options of any free trials created during the class period, and cease any monetization efforts relying on the illegally obtained information.”

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3. Lawsuit References West’s Tweets About Album’s Exclusivity and His ‘Personal Debt’

The lawsuit references at least two tweets that West posted while promoting the release of The Life of Pablo in February. For six weeks, fans could only listen to the album by subscribing to Tidal and West originally planned to keep it that way, posting this tweet on February 15:

But on April 1, West released an updated version of the album on Tidal as well as Spotify and Apple Music. Fans could also purchase a digital copy on his website, KanyeWest.com.

The lawsuit also references West tweet from February 13 where he stated he was “53 million dollars in personal debt” from creating and promoting the album. Not only did Tidal benefit from the uptick in subscribers, but the lawsuit tries to prove West also had a financial gain in keeping the album exclusive.

In another series of tweets from February, West wrote:

Yes I am personally rich and I can buy furs and houses for my family…but I need access to more money in order to bring more beautiful ideas to the world…If I spent my money on my ideas I could not afford to take care of my family. I am in a place that so many artist end up…Also for anyone that has money they know the first rule is to use other people’s money.

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4. West and Tidal Have Not Commented

Multiple outlets have reached out for comment from West, Jay Z and Tidal but have received no response. Baker-Rhett’s lawyer also said it has not hear from “West’s camp,” but they have heard from other class members who are in support of the lawsuit.

“We’ve heard from a lot of class members who are supportive of the lawsuit, fans who felt they were tricked and that they are happy we have filed the suit,” Edelson told the LA Times.

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5. Jay Z Is Suing Aspiro, the Former Owners of Tidal

This fan lawsuit isn’t the only one concerning Jay Z and Tidal. In late March, the hip-hop mogul filed a lawsuit against the previous owners of Tidal including Aspiro and major shareholders Norway’s Schibsted Media Group and Verdane Capital, a Stockholm-based private equity fund, according to USA Today. He is seeking $15 million for inflating the number of subscribers the streaming service had at the time Jay Z took control early 2015.

Tidal said in a statement to USA Today:

It became clear after taking control of TIDAL and conducting our own audit that the total number of subscribers was actually well below the 540,000 reported to us by the prior owners. As a result, we have now served legal notice to parties involved in the sale. While we cannot share further comment during active legal proceedings, we’re proud of our success and remain focused on delivering the best experience for artists and fans.

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