Apple Music Blocks Tidal from Streaming Drake Performance

BY Alex HudsonPublished Aug 29, 2015

Apple Music and Tidal have been battling over streaming service supremacy ever since both platforms debuted earlier this year. Now, the rivalry seems to have turned bitter, as Apple Music reportedly threatened Tidal with a $20 million lawsuit.

This disagreement surrounded Drake's appearance at last night's Lil WeezyAna Fest, a New Orleans concert with proceeds going to those affected by 2005's Hurricane Katrina. Because festival namesake Lil Wayne is a co-owner of Tidal, the event was being streamed through the Jay Z-owned service.

The New York Post reports that, due to Apple Music's exclusive deal with Drake, the company threatened to sue Tidal if it aired Drake's guest appearance. According the Post's unnamed source, "Legal letters have been sent to Tidal warning that Drake cannot appear on the Tidal stream of the festival, either solo or part of a group, and if the warning was ignored, the liabilities could be up to $20 million."

Although there has been no official confirmation about the threatened lawsuit, these reports were seemingly confirmed when Tidal's festival stream was interrupted by an apology message (above) during Drake's performance. Tidal also fired shots at Apple Music on Twitter: According to reports, Drake was initially lined up to be one of Tidal's co-owners, but he dropped out at the eleventh hour and aligned himself with Apple Music.

Latest Coverage