Musicians and music fans have a new place to turn to get their daily streaming song fixes.
Courtesy of the recent $56 million purchase of Tidal, a subscription-based streaming music service, rapper Jay-Z is promising competition in this growing market. He’s also promising musicians a place where they’ll have more control over how their music is consumed.
While Jay-Z is the front man for the new Tidal ownership group, he’s not the only investor. The platform is now owned by artists who back the vision that includes more personal control and the potential for higher royalties.
Owners include Kanye West, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, Jason Aldean and, of course, Jay-Z’s wife Beyoncé.
“This is a platform that’s owned by artists,” Jay-Z was quoted by The New York Times as saying. “We are treating these people that really care about the music with the utmost respect.”
Standing Out From the Crowd
Despite its star-studded ownership, Tidal faces some fierce competition in the streaming music department. Services such as Spotify, Google and Apple Beats combine to create a market already crowded with options.
Unlike Spotify’s free service, Tidal will charge users $9.99 a month for a standard streaming subscription and $19.99 a month for what it’s calling “lossless streaming,” or CD-quality sound. The service is banking on music fans to switch over for three main reasons:
- Ethics – Tidal is promising musicians who use the service to promote their songs decent royalties, which is something the competition doesn’t necessarily provide
- Exclusive material – Tidal will boast its own exclusive streaming content
- Higher quality sound – The second tier subscription promises to deliver higher sound quality than the competition
Add to these reasons the fact Tidal will stream without advertisements, unlike Spotify, and its ownership group believes fans will be willing to fork over the monthly fees.
Backing the Play
Jay-Z and other Tidal owners seem to be circling the wagons to help Tidal get off the ground with its own exclusive offerings.
Jay-Z’s first album, “Reasonable Doubt,” for example, was recently pulled from Spotify, whose ad-based business model Jay-Z says devalues music as a whole.
Rihanna and Beyoncé have also released exclusives for the service, giving rise to speculation that music fans may someday have to subscribe to multiple services to hear all their favorite songs or choose a different option for consuming music entirely.
The full implications of Tidal’s entry into the market remain unclear. What is clear, however, is that streaming music fans now have another option to consider.
For more information about Tidal, visit it online.
