Tidal Is Selling Prince CDs – Why Doesn’t Every Music Streamer Also Sell Music?
I've always thought that music streamers should also sell downloads and CDs, or at least link to someone who does. The major labels could force them to and even if buying music instead of renting it is on the way out, why not make the revenue while you can?
When Prince gave Tidal a streaming exclusive on his new album, it was almost a non-event. After all, how long would it be before you could hear it on YouTube or grab it via a torrent tracker? Shortly thereafter, iTunes, Amazon and others began selling downloads of the album.
Now Tidal is also selling "HITNRUN Phase One" as a CD. We believe that this is the first time that any music streamer has offered both digital downloads and CDs for sale.
And fans don't have to be a paying Tidal subscriber to buy downloads or vinyl according to the site. "Buying music from TIDAL.com does not require an active subscription, but you need to create a free account so you can login and download your music," according to Tidal's terms of service.
If this is the start of a trend, it would mean more revenue for artists. There are some workarounds like BandPage that can place links out withing music streamers, but why not a buy button next to every track or album?
