Neil Young is often held up as the rare major artist that is always true to his values, whatever the commercial consequences. Apparently, Young’s moral backbone does not extend to his espoused hatred of streaming music.
Last July, Neil Young yanked his music off of Spotify and other streaming music services. His argument, at the time, was more about fidelity than income. “I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution,” Young said,
Less than a year later , Young’s catalog – all 57 albums – is now available on Tidal. And while Tidal does have a $19.99 per month high quality streaming option, the majority of its subscribers pay $9.99 for the same sound quality that Young declared “devalued” his music.
Perhaps Young was motivated by his failed attempt to launch his own high quality streaming service Pono. Or maybe its just that he’s set to release a new album called EARTH recorded during his recent Monsanto Years tour.
Either way, Tidal scores another “exclusive” victory.