Looks like Kanye got Kanye’d – as he’s basking in the glory of his acclaimed album The Life of Pablo, one of his fans is now stealing the spotlight.
Justin Baker-Rhett, 25, filed a class action lawsuit against Kanye West, Jay Z, and the company he owns, Tidal streaming music service, for using a “deceptive marketing ploy.” The suit alleges Tidal collected consumers’ personal data, credit card info, and increased its subscribers two-fold, putting the value of the supposedly scammed data at $84 million.
Scores of subscribers flocked to Tidal’s paid service in February. believing it would be the only way they could stream tracks like “I Love Kanye” from Kanye’s new album. Fans were outraged in March when Yeezus changed his tune and made The Life of Pablo easily available on his own site, Apple Music, and Spotify.
In the 26-page action filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, attorneys for Justin Baker-Rhett seek class-action status for the suit to represent as many as two million current and former subscribers to Tidal. In February, when Tidal was “quietly teetering on the brink of collapse,” the service more than doubled its subscriber base from 1 million to 2.5 million in 10 days after Kanye tweeted to his 21 million followers that The Life of Pablo would be exclusive to Tidal.
We fully support the right of artists to express themselves freely and creatively, however creative freedom is not a license to mislead the public,” attorney Jay Edelson said. “We believe that we will be able to prove to a jury that Mr. West and Tidal tricked millions of people into subscribing to their services and that they will ultimately be held accountable for what they did.”
For once, Kanye has been quiet; he could not be reached for comment and he hasn’t tweeted in days. The accounts of Jay Z and Tidal are also absent of statements about the suit.
