TIDAL Responds To Doubters: More Artist-Partners Wanted, Promises Higher Payments For All,
The mixed – sometimes venomous – reaction from music fans to Monday's relaunch of TIDAL was probably not what Jay Z & Company had expected. Now, slowly, they are responding to the doubters.
'TIDAL is just getting started' was the message sent from multiple sources yesterday within the just-relaunched music service. More exclusive content is part of their refrain, but so is a bigger tent that will embrace more artists.
The 16 current arist-owners "have equal ownership and majority ownership in the company," according to TIDAL senior executive Vania Schlogel. New artists who join Tidal will also "be participating in the equity upside of this," she said. Exactly who is eligible to participate and how equity – which is, after all a finite resource – will be divided, remains as unclear as many details surrounding TIDAL.
More Control & Money For All
"Whatever these artists want to do, this is their playground to do it," said Schlogel. "This is the creative space to just get it done and share that and communicate with their fans."
All artists, whether partners or not, will earn more money per stream than they do on Spotify and other existing music services, according to Schlogel. One reason that TIDAL may be able to keep that promise is that there is no free listening tier diluting profits from paying customers. Another is TIDAL's $19.99 price for hi-def streaming.
In the end, the size of payments will be driven primarily by how many users TIDAL can entice to sign up and pay monthly.
Analysis
Our informal poll is running 3 to 1 against TIDAL. [You can still vote here.] These results are a reflection of the concerns of musicians, labels and others in the industry, in part because TIDAL has been slow to share information. As I told International Business Times, the backlash is understandable given that the launch felt a bit like TIDAL was mostly about further enriching 16 already rich artists.
But as I said to IBT reporter Max Willins,"I'm still hopeful. These are smart people who, I believe, care about music as well as commerce. It would be particularly disappointing if they did not work to help other artists who are struggling as they once did.”
Spotify should just add a high-def tier for 17.99 and call it a day.
“Exactly who is eligible to participate and how equity – which is, after all a finite resource – will be divided, remains as unclear as many details surrounding TIDAL.”
end of article.
“This is the creative space to just get it done and share that and communicate with their fans.”
what?