Drake, David Guetta, And Pharrell Williams To Sign Deal With Apple: Will Jay-Z Be Furious?
Apple is getting ready to revamp iTunes Radio and is reportedly making a deal with three major stars. The New York Post first reported the news on Sunday morning.
“Apple is in talks to sign a rumored $19 million deal to get ‘Started From the Bottom’ rapper Drake as a guest DJ for iTunes Radio, among other things. Drake is just one of a host of artists Apple wants to snag for its huge all-encompassing assault on the music front.”
The post goes on to reveal that David Guetta and Pharrell Williams may be signed as well. Jay-Z will be absolutely furious that many African-American hip hop artists are turning their backs to Tidal and instead going for other companies. In April, Jay-Z even insisted that other companies, such as Apple and Spotify, were engaging in a smear campaign against Tidal. AllHipHop talked about Jay-Z’s anger at Apple and other companies.
“In an attempt to right the ship for his new venture, the company’s part owner/public face Jay Z sent out a series of tweets on Sunday addressing the public perception issues surrounding his new venture. The Hip Hop mogul even contends other companies have conducted a ‘smear campaign’ against Tidal.”
It’s a good thing that Drake has pushed himself towards Apple while staying away from Tidal. Artists who have associated themselves with Tidal have experienced a public backlash. Rihanna, who debuted her “American Oxygen” video on Tidal, saw the single become the most unsuccessful non-hit of her career. Kanye West hasn’t fared much better. Perhaps they need to jump ship while there is still time left to save their careers.
Drake is likely to get a huge boost from Apple, who can hopefully help him sell more concert tickets. Even though Drake is currently making money with the Jungle Tour, hundreds of tickets appeared to still be available this past Wednesday for his show in Detroit. His performance from Coachella obviously didn’t help his brand either. Consequence of Sound asked if Drake was the worst Coachella headliner in history.
“Drake’s Coachella debut featured high-profile cameos from Madonna and Nicki Minaj, and also indirectly led to Justin Bieber getting put in a stranglehold. But the reviews of Drake’s own performance have been anything but kind, and that’s including the rapper’s own personal opinion.”
No matter what you think of Drake, it’s obvious he is still very marketable enough for a major company like Apple to seek him out for their service. Drake, Pharrell Williams, and others are about to make Apple even more interesting.
[Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images]
