Once again, we had a Sunday pass this year with the leak
of something major in the world of music. But, this leak that
looked to be a massive movement has lost some strength.
I’m referring to Tidal, the (somewhat)spanking brand-new
music streaming service put forth by Jay-Z and a slew of
other notable music artists that made its debut in grand
fashion this past Monday, with the slogan ‘TIDALForAll’ as
a rallying cry on social media. The highlight was a full-blown
press conference that had many music artists on stage with
Jay-Z including his wife, Beyonce and Kanye West and Rihanna.
In a show of support on Twitter, these artists changed their
avatars to a blue square. There was even a document that
artists signed onstage in a show that some likened to the
signing of the Declaration of Independence, and others wound
up making Illuminati jokes about. But Tidal, and Jay-Z have
come under heavy fire over the launch and it doesn’t seem
like it will let up.
I’d be the last person to question Jay-Z’s business drive and
acumen. Let’s face it, the MC has made some moves, with
the 40/40 Club and his partnership with the Brooklyn Nets
as a prime example. I can see why he’d look to make this
entry into the competitive world of music streaming. But
this launch has backfired for a couple of key reasons. First,
the presentation. If you’ve seen the commercials, it seems
like all of these artists are banding together to fight against
the common foes of streaming services and the labels that
limit the output of good music and creativity. It’s trying to
place Tidal as a revolutionary weapon for the people, and it
rings hollow. Granted, the reasoning for a move like this is
based in part on Spotify’s lackluster royalty payments for
streaming music (and the infamous Aloe Blacc example)
which has led to the notable situation of Taylor Swift pulling
all of her music from the service and joining…Tidal. But each
of these artists are wealthy, some very much so. And since
they’re partners in this enterprise, to the reported stake of
3.5% for some, they’d want this to succeed. Which brings
us to the second point: pricing. The company caught a lot of
flack for the cost of the subscription service, which is $19.99.
A month. Which means on a yearly basis, it will run you $240.
In response to the vitriol, Tidal now offers a subscription package
that runs you $9.99. The difference? The twenty buck package
gets you high-quality FLAC sound. That’s.It.
Now the rebuttal that has been issued by Tidal execs has been
that for those who love audio, the 19 dollar package is ideal
because it gets you CD-quality sound. It doesn’t sound that
appealing in an age where CD’s still teeter on the brink of being
decorative coasters. In fact, at a recent talk held at NYU with
Jay-Z and the chief investment officer Vania Schlogel, there
seemed to still be a cloud of vagueness as to what Tidal will
really offer consumers mixed with an air of ‘but, don’t you
see who’s attached to this?!!’ There’s also questions as the
current subscriber list that was part of the deal Hov made, at
$56 million dollars. Now, it’s understandable that Hov wants
this to pop off seeing the 3 billion dollar deal Dr.Dre had in
line with Apple and Beats Music. But it would’ve been wise to
also look at their overall strategy. They had a defined approach,
and products that they turned into status symbols based on
that approach and the products’ performance. It’s easier to do
that with tactile products instead of a streaming music service
that is going up against proven outlets like Spotify, Rdio and
Pandora not to mention other brands like Soundcloud and
Audiomack.
The other element that seems to be missed is the golden
opportunity to include independent musicians. If you’re a
service that looks to give back to the artist their due, why
not launch with a definitive appeal to them in mind? Again,
services like Soundcloud and Bandcamp stand out here for that
reason - leveling the playing field against artists with major
corporate backing. That’s how labels like Jamla and Mello Music
Group are making strides. Not in a ‘manifesto’ delivered by
an artist on stage who 11 years before was touting iTunes as
the last word in streaming music. That’s not to say indie
artists may be ignored, but it begs the question - who is
Tidal really for? What will it ultimately be? Jay-Z got miffed
when the moderator at NYU made a simple follow-up question
about it possibly taking the place of a label, claiming ‘they
have more ambition than that.’ The world is waiting to see
what that ambition really is, and I suspect they are as well.