Jack White answering TMR Vault Members and fans questions and comments about the new TIDAL offer for vault members:
hey y’all,
first off let me say that everyone at third man is excited to be part of offering tidal hifi to our vault members that we treasure so dearly. tmr has always had the goal of preserving the sanctity of music and helping artists who have no voice get thier music heard. below i’ll try to answer some of the more common questions we’ve been hearing. dont worry, none of this is done in negative reaction, i get where you’re coming from and why you are feeling certain ways, but here’s an artists take on the comments and questions, i hope it helps understand where all the musicians are coming from. it’s a tough time for music, i encourage people to be on the side of supporting musicians, giving to them, not taking from them. god bless
jw
III
Q: With the amount we pay for the vault, tidal should be free, not just discounted
jack white: third man does not own or make decisions for tidal, this deal is incredibly cool and took us a long time to work on the logistics of. third man is artist owned, and tidal is artist owned. it wasn’t something we had to do at all, but we wanted
the vault members to all know they come first and they have a portal to this artist run streaming service through us now.
Q: What a joke. I refuse to support The vault and tidal. if you claim music is so special and sacred then why charge a premium for people to enjoy it?
jack white: how much did you pay for that last movie you saw at the theater? and how much did that movie cost to make? dont devalue musicians man, support them. making records is expensive, believe us, i dont see people saying we should go to the movies for free, or netflix should be free. that state of music is in flux, be on the side of supporting creativity, not taking from it. this gives you that chance.
Q: I can purchase a new record every month with that $20.
jack white: please do! when i was a teeenager i would go to the record store twice a month and buy 4 records each trip, anywhere from between 12 and 18 bucks a piece! and guess what? i still do! and with tidal, for 9.99 you have every record they can possibly get there hands on to stream. in the car, in the gym. places you can’t play vinyl right? think about it: how much did you spend on movies this year?
Q: sorry Jack, but I have 0 interest in making jayz more money.
and
Q: I'm sorry, but I don't understand how Jack could be involved in this awful business model. Totally screws the fans, I thought he was a bit above that. How much money does he need?
jack white: a streaming service owned by artists is the first step, it’s not about the rich getting richer. it takes artists that can get peoples attention to be able to make a scenario possible for those artists that dont have a voice to get in a position where they aren’t struggling, and beleive me third man records is full of artists the mainstream’s never heard of and have no voice or power in the system. have you heard of rachelle garnier? what about the smoke fairies? drakar sauna? pujol? the gories? those are just some of the up and coming artists on third man that try to make a living in music. and if you stream thier songs….they get paid for it. and they get to LIVE and not take second jobs….and make MORE music! i support keeping musicians you love in business. we want a full third man roster page on tidal that you can stream hundreds of records on, and each time that artist gets something. that’s a beautiful thing.
and also…do we tell steven spielberg we dont need to pay him anymore to watch his movies? he’s made enough off of us right? he should show his new films for free right? haha
The “how much money does he need?” question is the one that blows my mind. Gotta wonder how that person has missed all of the news over the past couple of years about how Jack SPENDS all that money we turn over to him. Things like helping to ensure the continued existence of the largest Masonic temple in the U.S. which just happens to contain two music venues, very likely bankrolling Volumes 1 & 2 of the Rise and Fall of Paramount Records because you know that Third Man and Revenant combined could not have afforded all of the research and development that went into the creation of those sets, and six-figure donations to organizations like the National Blues Museum and the National Recording Preservation Foundation. The man puts his money where his mouth is and as long as he does, I’m happy to continue giving him more of my own. I’ll do it through other means than Tidal because I’m not able to make use of any streaming service often enough to make it worthwhile, but I don’t understand why anyone who could use a streaming service would complain about paying him for one.
(And some in the Vault chat.)
@Jasper The questions that Jack is responding to above were posted by Vault members, in the “Tidal subscription” thread. :-)
sorry if I am critical, but it feels a bit like a one way discussion, I have not seen any response to the comments posted; you have answered the questions of Dear Q ( is it Q from James Bond ;-) ) but I have seen no reply to vault members
Hey Jack, just wanted to say a huge thank you for the big discount on tidal. I love it so much!! Somethings I’ve been wondering about though are, do you think the company will make a downloadable application like spotify has? Because I’m not sure about everyone else, but I prefer an application for playing my music vs. using a web page. Also, do you think that Tidal will release the Fargo show as audio as well? Just for when we aren’t able to watch it and would like to listen (for example in the car). Thank you again for all your hard work, so appreciative of that and the time you take for all of us :) Best wishes hope you are enjoying being off the road for a bit
ask yourself the Question, why did you start your own record label? I think it was the best way to Ensure you got paid for your efforts, If you involve other people they will try to make money out of you. Tell me if I am wrong.
I think most people are concerned the money is realy going to the artist; in the past there are enough examples that most of the money went into the pockets of the so called music industry, I know Frank Zappa and Tom waits fought in court to get paid, because record companies creamed of their pay for what was called cost made by the record company.I Think if you can convince people the money is really going to the artist and not to Jay Z( he obvious has enough) ore others; l think people will support the project
I wish The Gories were an up and coming band… haha…
Wow…. Now i feel like the ultimate nerd for needing to discuss the owners manual and terms of service in a social setting… But lots of us might have this quiet line of reasoning josting around in our substrata of concerns… This is a great thread for group think on the matter as i see it… Respects for tossin this up also… Jack youre still a scholar amongst those pretending to be gentlemen in my view
Well… Jack… As you well know… My concerns are all centered on the network integrity. Remote Administration Technology has destroyed much of what i though was secure in my life as an artist and private citizen…. Somebody hum a few bars of ‘I Think I Smell A Rat’ for me when it comes to the RAT when it comes to the depth and breadth of NSA meddling in my software cache…. Can we trust you to look into the nondisclosure of our linking and contact info as pertains to the Rocafella and his cohorts??? The pernicious nature of app technology gives me the blacks and only sometimes the blues relative to running my battery down prematurely and spending my broadband streaming down each month… Dont get me wrong here… I want all my musical friends to be repped on Tidal only in ways they wish to be consumed but us little guys need someone on our side lockin out the Ops…. Get back to me when it comes to software security, firewall effectiveness, non-disclosure and HIGHLY SECURE HIFI for the average guy with android and apple apps at your earliest… My free trial is gonna expire and I wanna roll in on premium this week… You got my Addy on lock …so drop a line! Pssssssst…. Thanks for your infinite patience and good humor…. Nothin but love TMR III