Having a major brand bankroll free music is nothing new. Maybe it was all meticulously planned to play out this way but it really makes you wonder if “pig’s ear” was the marketing angle from the off.Įven so, Rihanna was not technically out of pocket for these free downloads, as a deal with Samsung had already paid for 1m copies to be given away as part of a promotional push, linking into a wider branding deal estimated at $25m. On Tuesday, she announced that the album was available on iTunes. Another Tidal representative, however, told Spin that it was an error caused by Universal, parent company of Rihanna’s label, Roc Nation. Rihanna then took a decision to make it available to download for free. Tidal initially blamed a “system error” and pulled it, trying to laugh it off. Anti suddenly appeared on Tidal, the streaming music subscription service she has a stake in and acts as a celebrity ambassador for. The anticipation was building for a 29 January release but then the wheels came off two days early. On 25 January she tweeted a picture of herself wearing gaudy headphones with the tag “listening to ANTI” followed, for some reason, by a balloon emoji. The next month, she launched an incomprehensible website, ANTIdiaRy that was part “immersive” trailer and part marketing platform for Samsung. She unveiled the artwork back in October at the Mama gallery in Los Angeles (intended subtext: this is a very serious and artistic project, thanks). Anti is an album she has been talking about or alluding to for many months, all the time refusing to confirm a precise release date.

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