When it comes to describing the emerging music streaming industry, a more apt saying might be “less money, mo problems.” And as if Jay-Z’s struggling music streaming platform Tidal didn’t have enough of them already, rapper Kanye West, one of its most prominent and influential original members, is reportedly jumping ship. According to Yeezy, Tidal breached his contract by not paying him what he was owed, and his legal team terminated their deal after several failed attempts to reconcile. Tidal, however, maintains that it still has an exclusive and legally binding contract with West, and would promptly resort to litigation if he were to release his music with a competing service. As a party to a contract, Tidal cannot both refuse its obligation to adequately pay West and continue to expect the artist to hold up his end of the deal. And given Tidal’s recent $200 million deal with Sprint, it would probably be wise not to publicly bicker with their most popular artist over an amount that is arguably peanuts in comparison.

Source: Forbes July 07, 2017 01:07 UTC