Kanye,
I have been a die-hard fan of yours for years. I have continually supported you and defended you, which — let's be real — hasn't been the easiest thing to do the past year or so. Despite all of that, I have defended your creativity and personality.
You promised that your sixth album would be available on February 11. That day came around and nothing was released. "The Life of Pablo" finally dropped on February 14, in the early hours of the morning after you performed on "Saturday Night Live."
I thought, "Oh, OK, I can wait a few more days." No problem.
However, you decided to do something that really hasn't settled well with me. You're only putting the album on Tidal, the online music-streaming service. No physical copies. No way to buy it on iTunes. Nothing. Just good ol' Tidal.
My album will never never never be on Apple. And it will never be for sale... You can only get it on Tidal.
— KANYE WEST (@kanyewest) February 15, 2016
Tidal is the music-streaming service that's famously owned by Shawn Carter, also known as the one and only Jay Z. While the concept behind Tidal is great (Tidal has the highest royalty percentage of any other music service), the subscription fee is costly. For the "lossless quality high fidelity" service, it's a whopping $26.99 monthly fee for iPhone users, and six dollars less for other operating systems. That's at least $240 a year, and to your average 21-year-old, that's a lot of money.
Yeezy, this is really disrespectful to your longtime fans. Not all of us can cash out over $20 a month to Tidal. Those $20 could be going towards buying textbooks. We're the ones who have stuck with you through thick and thin, even when it's hard to defend you. After waiting over two years for a new album, this was really disappointing.
Not only is this a slap in the face to fans, but on the other side of the spectrum, it's encouraging others to illegally download "The Life of Pablo." As someone who appreciates music and all of the work it takes to make it happen, I don't want to see your work go pirated and unappreciated.
Kanye, please put your newest album in stores. I understand if you don't want it on iTunes or Apple Music. That's fine. But come on, please sell physical copies of "The Life of Pablo" in stores. Do your long-time fans a solid — we deserve it.
Sincerely,
A Disappointed Fan
