May of last year witnessed Jay-Z, officially known as Shawn Carter, laying down a confrontational “diss” rap aimed at his competitors. Back then, his music streaming app, Tidal, was weathering storms of doubt with just over 500,000 paying subscribers. Despite the skepticism, the strategy behind Tidal was crystal clear: rope in founding shareholders like pop culture giants Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, and Jay-Z himself to release their tracks exclusively on the service. In the light of day, that strategy has resulted in over 25 million tracks, 85,000 music videos, 3 million subscribers, and a significant 1.3 million of them are active, paying subscribers. For $19.99/month, or 6,800 Naira, you gain full access to the plethora of features the service has to offer.
In a marked shift in music rights ownership, Tidal has recently acquired exclusive rights to some of the late music icon, Prince’s, discography. This news has reverberated through the online world, as the tragic death of the purple one on April 21st left fans in mournful anticipation of new ways to appreciate his musical masterpieces. This date also carries dual significance as it would have been Prince’s 58th birthday. The music icon’s untimely departure has reignited interest in his music and his radiant performance days – an opportunity Tidal could leverage to reel in a larger pool of paying subscribers.
Besides its competitive edge with exclusive music, Tidal also purportedly takes the cake for paying artists higher royalties than any of the major platforms like Spotify and Apple Music. This trait might have played into Tidal’s favor as the late singer was reported to hold a certain disdain towards the major streaming platforms.
In the first quarter of 2015, Tidal was taken over by Project Panther Ltd, owned by Shawn Carter, for a whopping $56.2 million or 19 billion Naira. With the acquisition of Prince’s music, Jay-Z’s, Tidal demonstrates its firm resolve to offer a unique music experience to its subscribers and uphold its commitment to artists.
Paul Balo is the founder of TechBooky and a highly skilled wireless communications professional with a strong background in cloud computing, offering extensive experience in designing, implementing, and managing wireless communication systems.
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