Music’s New Soap Opera: “Apples & Tides”

I’m paid yo!

Drake may have “started from the bottom” but his pockets are about to be more “top dollar” as the check writers at Apple iTunes continue to seek ways and means to usurp Jay-Z‘s Tidal wave. Word from the curb is Larry Graham’s #1 nephew (yes, that Larry Graham is Drake’s uncle) is figuring out how to stack nearly $20 million for a part time Apple iTunes gig (this work is honest and it pays the bills!). Drake is just one of a laundry list of artists Apple wants to snag in their efforts to  assault, smash and take over on the music streaming front.

Sources claim that Apple is also aggressively pursuing Pharrell Williams, DJ David Guetta and Kanye West offering mega checks to totally lock down their own bevy of “A-listers ” like a Live Nation 360 deal. As Kanye continues to make more changes, he’s rumored to be pondering separating from Jay-Z and defect from Tidal compliments of Jimmy Iovine’s billion dollar checkbook.

As their full court press continues, Apple executives have reportedly been visiting record labels to negotiate and make deals, ahead of its World Wide Developer Conference in San Francisco next week, where they are scheduled to present a major roll out  of their long-delayed music service.

Keep your “Sharp Eye Washington” glasses on and don’t blink too long or you may well miss the laundry list of stars that will hit the stage with Apple CEO Tim Cook on June 8th.

The interesting sea-quake at Tidal today is the possibility of Beyoncé’ removing herself from service (did Sony say knock you out?) especially after accepting an uber-expensive Apple watch!

The tech giant reportedly plans  to offer a three-month free trial period for its $10-a-month subscription to get customers to sample its service .In the minds of Apple execs, the “e’ in Apple equates to “free.” Apple wants record labels to give them rights for free streaming during three month free trial, and music publishers to forgo compensation relative to the lyrics element of Apple music as they create a potential quarterly revenue shortfall for music rights owners.

Apple’s arrow appears to be aimed at Spotify, Pandora and YouTube’s music services with the mission to one-up all of them. (Notice  that Tidal is not on the Apple hit list…)

Meanwhile, our tipsters suggest that Jay Z’s streaming-music upstart Tidal is looking for strategic partners to help it lift off. Word under the curb says Jay Z is aggressively seeking an existing service to merge with Tidal. Rhapsody, also absent from the Apple hit list, is rumored to be at the top of the Tidal wish list. However,  some sources say the Rhapsody and Tidal negotiations have gone the way of defective air bags. Perhaps the rumored pursuit of Dr. Dre may convince Hova to return Bey’s Apple watch… (real talk, I don’t see it but anything is possible) Word is tensions have escalated to Def Con 4 in the Carter household.

Lee Daniels may not need to write anymore scripts for Empire after its season two debut on September 23rd.^. He’s got more than a seasons worth of solid content if he bases his scripts on “DAT,” the Drama of Apple & Tidal. It’s a slam dunk for an NAACP Image Award!