Will Tidal's Mega-Music-Star Model Pose a Threat to Streaming Giants?
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Shawn “Jay Z” Carter and a lineup of mega-music stars have banded together to relaunch Tidal, a hi-fi music streaming service. Mr. Carter acquired Tidal earlier this month with his purchase of Norway tech company Aspiro for $56 million. The company, however, will not just belong to him, but also to his fellow artists. Sprint, the struggling third-placed carrier, has also been announced as a launch partner.
The service promises its users hi-fi, CD-quality audio and video, curated by the musicians themselves. It’s subscription costs are $19.95 for high quality streaming and $9.95 for standard streaming. Unlike Spotify, there will be no free ad-supported offering. At the outset, the service is pricy compared to the competition and, according to the Financial Times, “the deals with top recording stars do not include rights to music, which are held by the large labels that represent them.”
At an NYC event on Monday, teased by a celebrity-studded ad that broke earlier in the day, Mr. Carter was joined on stage by Beyonce, Usher, Daft Punk, Kanye West, Madonna, Jack White, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys and many more. Ms. Keys addressed the crowd saying that the musicians were all banding together to launch an “artist-owned global music entertainment platform. … Our goal is simple: we want to create a better service and a better experience for both fans and artists. Our mission goes beyond commerce, it goes beyond technology. Our intent is to preserve music’s importance in our lives.”
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