While some readers may have heard chatter regarding a certain rapper buying a certain company that’s poised to obliterate a certain music streaming giant, most probably had no idea it would involve the assembly of a musical Avengers.

However, as Forbes reports, Jay-Z launched Tidal, the Swedish streaming service that he recently purchased for a reported $56 million, during a fittingly ostentatious ceremony that basically featured your iPod playlist if it came to life.

Tidal is being touted as Jay-Z’s Spotify killer (with obvious skepticism from numerous sources) and what better way to announce that you mean business than by trotting out the likes of Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire, Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Chris Martin, and Daft Punk.

But Hov had more up his sleeve, pulling out all the stops to produce rock superstar Jack White, country giant Jason Aldean, fellow rapper J Cole, former collaborator Kanye West, EDM renegade Deadmau5, pop icon Madonna, as well as hit-makers Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, and Usher.

What ensued afterwards was mega-celebrities speaking rather hyperbolically about what the latest string on Jay-Z’s bow, which also includes a management firm and sporting agency, will mean for artists around the world (apparently a lot).

“This is incredible, this is so powerful,” said Keys, who reportedly lead the launch press conference. “And I think all of us collectively in this room are feeling the same kind of energy… look how we can all do this together.”

After quoting Nietzsche — “Without music, life would be a mistake” — Keys dubbed this “the beginning of a whole new era”, before calling artists up to sign a document, presumably certifying each musician as part owner of “the first ever artist-owned global music and entertainment platform”.

So what makes Tidal so great besides the big names affiliated with it? Tidal is reportedly designed to give users a premium streaming experience, offering high-definition tracks rendered in a lossless format. The streams will be CD quality, or about three times better than Spotify.

According to Gizmodo, the main catch is that the service is expensive – a subscription will run you $23.99 per month in Australia after a free 30-day trial. However, Engadget is reporting that Jay-Z wishes to cut the subscription fees in half, making them about the same as Spotify’s.

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While Hov and Tidal get to work on that, you can enjoy the teaser clips recently unveiled by the service, which feature many of the artists who attended the highly publicised launch chatting amongst themselves, toasting with champagne flutes, and speaking very highly of Tidal.

In the clips, which feel oddly forced (must be the fact that Daft Punk showed up in-costume and we don’t get to see how they drink the champagne they’re holding), West calls Tidal “the beginning of a new world”, while Jay-Z promises that they will “change the course of history forever today”.

One musician who’s not all too enthused by Jay-Z’s latest venture however is UK producer The Haxan Cloak, who claimed on Twitter that the music used in one of the service’s promo teasers plagiarises one of his own compositions.

“This is so shameful. Thanks for not getting in touch and ripping me off, Tidal,” he wrote. “Just to clarify, I’m not saying Tidal used my music; I’m saying they used an imitation of it. This happens to artists way too often.”

While the industry is excited to see just what will come of Tidal and the launch was certainly extravagant, it’s probably not a good look to get your artist-focused streaming service off the ground using allegedly plagiarised music.

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