Jay Z pulls albums from Spotify, Apple Music

Are you a fan of Jay Z’s music? You’ll have to go to his Tidal music service.

ay Z fans will have to look a little harder to find his music.

The rapper’s 12 studio albums are no longer available on Spotify, and many of his songs are missing from Apple Music. A spokeswoman for Spotify confirmed that the artist requested the removal, while an Apple Music spokesman couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

The move marks yet another shot in the battle for the hearts and ears of streaming music customers. Jay Z owns Tidal, a rival option that is geared toward audiophiles and pitched as a service that fairly compensates artists. The rapper and entrepreneur has been critical of how companies like Spotify pay musicians for their work.

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Tidal is in a tough spot. Spotify is the market leader in streaming music, and Apple Music has been growing since its late entry into the competition. Tidal has the advantage of certain exclusive songs from artists who are also co-owners of the service.

In January, Sprint bought a one-third stake in the business in exchange for giving its subscribers access to the service.

Spokespeople for Tidal and Jay Z weren’t immediately available for comment. (Courtesy of Cnet’s Roger Cheng)

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