Jay Z’s premium music streaming site Tidal has faced its share of criticism since it launched a few weeks ago, but today he’s offered a response. After promising a “stream of consciousness,” he reaffirmed some of the ideals that the company has espoused from the beginning. He says that the service is meant to be a place “where artists can give their fans music without middlemen.” That apparently means a 75 percent royalty for all artists who use the service, not just the owners who appeared onstage at the launch. He also notes they’ve garnered over 770,000 subscribers in “less than a month,” but Tidal isn’t willing to stop there.

“The iTunes Store wasn’t built in a day,” he wrote. “It took Spotify 9 years to be successful. We are here for the long haul. Please give us a chance to grow & get better.”

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