When streaming services, like Pandora and Spotify, first started gaining ground there was widespread support from listeners. Following rising music prices on iTunes and the explosion of online music piracy in the 2000s, music fans flocked to the cheaper streaming services that allowed either free listening or subscription services with ads, or with no ads, for less than what most serious music listeners ended up paying when they were using iTunes and without the risk of illegal downloading.

Eventually, other services like Songza and TIDAL launched, promising subscribers similar access to the vast music libraries available on their predecessors. However, when TIDAL was released a little less than a year ago it was met with lukewarm reception. It was a listener's market, and for many music fans, there was no reason to move to TIDAL when Spotify was already offering the same service.

However, following the exclusive release of Beyonce’s, “Formation,” on TIDAL and Kanye West’s release of his newest album, “Life of Pablo,” exclusively on TIDAL, people are reconsidering the costs of dividing the music industry into separate fiefdoms. Most people would be unwilling to subscribe to more than one music streaming site, even if TIDAL holds the secret key to “Life of Pablo." West’s refusal to even put the album for sale on iTunes makes this divide even more irritating for consumers who are willing to pay for an album, but maybe not an entire streaming service.

Not only is the division of music accessibility damaging to already lagging sales figures, but it's also inconvenient for fans of West’s music. In an age when young people are used to having instant access to television, movies and music, inconveniencing listeners are the surest way of losing them.