TIDAL GETS PHYSICAL

For the first time ever, a streaming service is selling CDs.

Prince released his new album—his third in under a year, btw—called HitNRun Phase One as a Tidal exclusive on Sept. 7. After a week of streaming behind the service's paywall, the album was then released wide to other retailers such as iTunes and Amazon, with Tidal joining the effort by functioning as...a retailer?

Yep.

The service offers both regular mp3 and hi-fi (FLAC) versions of the album digitally, selling for $9.99 and $17.99, respectively.

But it gets weirder.

Tidal is selling the physical CD of HitNRun. If a consumer insists on this peculiar path of most resistance to attain it, however, it will set them back more than $25, including shipping.

Was this inclusion part of a negotiating tactic for the exclusive by the 57-year-old artist? It's no secret Prince has notoriously struggled with the modern realities of the Internet and his music. And Tidal may have gotten something in return—in July, Prince started pulling his music off all the other streaming outlets.

It remains to be seen whether Tidal will offer this functionality to other artists. You do not need a subscription to access their new store, but you are required to set up a free account, which gives Tidal an opportunity to collect user emails and potentially message them in the future to try their service.

By any means necessary, people.