Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Jay-Z new album 4:44: How to listen and stream now Tidal quirk has been lifted

Many new US subscribers were enraged to find the new record inaccessible

Christopher Hooton
Tuesday 04 July 2017 08:34 BST
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

Actually listening to Jay-Z's new album 4:44 got slightly easier today, as the stipulation that US Tidal users must have subscribed before the album was released was lifted following anger from fans.

Those who signed up to Tidal in the US just to listen to 4:44 were met with a message telling them that it was only accessible to Tidal customers who established their accounts before 26 June, unless, in a bizarre deal, they were also a Sprint user. The album has been available to all UK Tidal users since release.

The move attracted criticism from Mark Ronson, Snoop Dogg - who admitted to being forced to illegally download the album - and legions of fans, leading to today's U-turn.

“Response to Jay-Z’s ‘4:44’ has been unbelievable from Sprint and existing Tidal members who have been able to exclusively stream the album since Friday," a representative said.

"Now anyone who joins Tidal can experience Jay-Z’s innovative new work. "Of course, Sprint customers and those who switch to Sprint can continue to enjoy a six-month trial of Tidal HiFi on us.”

Stoking interest in the album, Jay-Z also released a "visual" for one of the album's tracks called Footnotes for 'The Story of O.J', an animation exploring religious and racial stereotypes.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in