Update — March 30, 10:56 a.m. ET
Jay Z will announce details of the new Tidal in a press conference at 5:00 p.m. ET today, according to a press release. A live stream will be available at Tidal.com. The Roc Nation founder and hip-hop star will reportedly reveal "a commitment to a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective."
Artists changed their avatar to cyan blue over the weekend to match the color of the company logo of Tidal, Jay Z's new music streaming service, which is expected to launch Monday.
"The Tides They Are-A Changing" #TIDALforALL
Last month, Jay Z purchased the Swedish technology company Aspiro, which operates the service, for $56 million and is expected to launch at a Monday afternoon event in New York City.
The website for Tidal describes itself as: "The first music streaming service that combines the best High Fidelity sound quality, High Definition music videos and expertly Curated Editorial."
Many see Tidal as Jay Z's attempt to take on other streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, and YouTube, which all offer free options for listening to music.
Apple is also entering the crowded streaming market and developing a service with the assistance of Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, Rolling Stone reported.
Tidal offers high-quality streaming for $19.99. People were quick to criticize the price, which is twice that of Spotify.
this streaming service costs $19.99/mo RT @S_C_: "The Tides They Are-A Changing" #TIDALforALL
There is also a standard quality audio price offered by Tidal for $9.99.
Oh boy, another music service set to splinter the existing streaming services and make listeners fork out more cash. #TIDALforALL
Jay Z reportedly first began lining up the support of his celebrity pals before this year's Grammy's.
He hosted a meeting in Los Angeles before last month's Grammy Awards to discuss his purchase, which was reportedly attended by Kanye West, Rihanna, Madonna, Coldplay's Chris Martin, Jack White, Daft Punk, Nicki Minaj, and Beyoncé, according to Showbiz 411.
At the meeting the artists discussed ways to profit from distributing their own work and focused on "videos, artists' rights and how music has been diminished by crass commercialism."
On Sunday night, many of those artists who attended the meeting with Jay Z tweeted their support and changed their avatars to match Tidal’s cyan blue logo.
Together, we can turn the tide and make music history. Start by turning your profile picture blue. #TIDALforALL
Change your avi in support of what is fair, of what is the future. The tides have changed, Barbz.… https://t.co/UqGLHerO37
NAVY, turn the tide…#MakeMusicHistory #TurnitBlue #TIDALforALL
Music makes the people come together. Join Madonna and turn your profile picture blue. Do it for the music. #TIDALforALL
Join Us. http://t.co/tFrrJRUFzb #TIDALforALL
If you want to join us in something exciting, please turn your profile blue #TIDALforALL PH
Others, like Deadmau5 and Usher also tweeted in favor of the service:
Tides are about to turn. #TIDALforALL
It's time to turn the tide and make music history. Show you are part of the movement by turning your profile pic blue. #TIDALforALL
Full details of the service will be announced during a press conference on Monday, Roc Nation said in a press release.