25% of TIDAL laid off as Jack Dorsey signals return to ‘startup’ mode
TIDAL must operate “like a startup again” with a “much smaller team,” said Jack Dorsey, signalling that that 25% of TIDAL staff would be laid off.
25% of TIDAL laid off
While Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Block, which owns TIDAL, did not share numbers, sources put the layoffs around 100, or more than 25% of TIDAL’s under 400 person team.
TIDAL also cut 10% of staff in December 2023.
“So we’re going to part ways with a number of folks on our team,” Jack Dorsey explained in an email to staff obtain by Fortune. “We’re going to lead with engineering and design, and remove the product management and product marketing functions entirely. We’re reducing the size of our design team and foundational roles supporting TIDAL, and we will consider reducing engineering over the next few weeks as we have more clarity around leadership going forward.”
Tidal said in a statement: “We have made some internal changes to our TIDAL team to focus on serving artists in the most meaningful way. This involved the elimination of some roles across our business and design teams. We are going to be smaller, focus on fewer things, and move with a relentless approach to product development.”
Just 0.5% US Market Share
In the US, Tidal is estimated to have just over 700,000 subscribers, a 0.5% market share.
Spotify is the dominant music streaming service, with a 31.7% market share. Other major competitors include Apple Music, Tencent Music, Amazon, YouTube Music, and Deezer.
Bruce Houghton is the Founder and Editor of Hypebot, a Senior Advisor at Bandsintown, President of the Skyline Artists Agency, and a Berklee College Of Music professor.
