Jay Z took to Twitter over the weekend to defend his streaming music company Tidal, despite the fact that all public indicators would suggest that a month after its relaunch it’s sinking like a brick.

Tidal, originally launched in 2014 by Sweedish/ Norwegian firm Aspiro, was acquired for $56 million in early 2015 by a company owned by Jay Z, along with Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Jack White, Madonna, Arcade Fire, Usher, Chris Martin,Alicia Keys, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, deadmau5, Jason Aldean and J. Cole.

At its grand, star-studded (and much mocked) relaunch March 30, the service (re)offered unlimited music streaming for $9.99 per month, or a high-definition version called Tidal HiFi that costs $19.99 per month. Tidal pays artists 75% of revenue, which is claimed to be the highest payout to artists in the industry.

One month later, and things aren’t looking good for the service, despite its well-known celebrity backers.

It was revealed April 17th that CEO Andy Chen had left the company, and 25 staff members had been laid off, a significant percentage of its entire workforce. During the month, the iOS app for Tidal also dropped below 700th on the Apple App Store charts, indicating further than any initial interest in the service was rapidly waning.

“Tidal is doing just fine. We have over 770,000 subs. We have been in business less than one month” Jay Z said on Twitter, before claiming that

The iTunes Store wasn't built in a day. It took Spotify 9 years to be successful…

— Mr. Carter (@S_C_) April 26, 2015

Of note: the number of subscribers before the relaunch of the service was 580,000; despite the millions spent on promotion, and its star-studded lineup, it managed to grow all of 190,000 subscribers…it is growth, but it’s far from being spectacular.

To be somewhat fair to Jay Z, Rome wasn’t built in a day, but given the service promised to “change the course of music history” (that’s an actual Alicia Keys quote) it’s really doing nothing of the sort.

What Tidal is though is just another Spotify clone owned by self-important wankers who think they know what’s best for the public, and the public isn’t in the least bit responding.

No doubt Tidal will kick on for some time, presuming the celebrity backers are happy to continue throwing good money after bad, but all the signs point to is its eventual failure, versus any real chance of success.

photo credit: Watch the Throne: Jay-Z & Kanye West via photopin (license)