Apple Did Not Stop Tidal From Streaming Drake At #LilWeezyAnaFest

Yesterday Drake appeared as a special guest at Lil Wayne’s Lil Weezyana Fest charity event. However, the only people who got to see it were those who were at the festival. Tidal subscribers were hit with a disclaimer as soon as Drake took the stage. According to reports, it was because Apple hit the streaming company with a $20 million threat if they broadcast the Toronto rapper on their outlet. As the news spread, many were torn between whether Apple did the right thing because, well business is business, or whether they were just being petty. 

According to the latest reports though, it wasn’t Apple that didn’t want the set streamed, it was Drake, himself. 

Via Buzzfeed

Drake’s decision not to participate in Tidal’s live stream of the Lil Weezyana Festival was precisely that — Drake’s decision. And sources familiar with the situation tell BuzzFeed News that Apple did not threaten Tidal with any legal action whatsoever — let alone one with $20 million in liabilities attached to it. “No one even knew this was going on until the Post piece hit,” one of the sources said, adding that it’s not even within Apple’s power to file such a suit.

And while it’s difficult not to look askance at such claims given Apple’s recent move into the streaming music space with Apple Music and its $19 million exclusivity deal with Drake, the singer’s management says it’s the truth. And it’s not at all happy with Tidal or what it says is a mischaracterization of last night’s events.

“The decision to not have Drake participate in the Tidal steam has nothing to do with Apple or Drake’s deal,” Drake’s manager Future the Prince told BuzzFeed News. “Point blank, 100%. I made a business decision. Apple doesn’t have the power to stop us from being part of a live stream. The only people that have the power to do that are Cash Money and Universal, and they’re our partners.” 

So why is Tidal very publicly saying otherwise? Not only did the company take to Twitter to lambaste Apple for interfering with its stream, but it also blacked out what would have been Drake’s portion of the stream with a slide lambasting Apple as a Big Brother “interfering with artistry.”

“I don’t understand,” Future said. “If you’re going to say something about the situation publicly, you should tell the truth. They saw the opportunity to take a situation and spin it in their favor as a publicity stunt.”

As for the rationale for withholding Drake’s performance from the live stream of a benefit concert, Future insisted it was related to Drake’s image — not his business deals. “We wanted to make sure the stream represented us in the right way, and we didn’t have much insight into what they were doing,” he said. “Aesthetics and quality are important to us and we didn’t have any control over that or time to investigate it. We were just there to participate in the benefit.”