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Why Tidal Is in So Much Trouble

Discussion in 'Article Discussion' started by Melody Bot, Jun 20, 2018.

  1. Melody Bot

    Your friendly little forum bot. Staff Member

    This article has been imported from chorus.fm for discussion. All of the forum rules still apply.

    David Turner, writing at Gizmodo:


    Tidal’s subscriber numbers received such intensified attention because initial adoption of the service appeared to be slow and the company ceased providing any user base information, while its competition continued to show growth. An extensive 2017 Dagens Naeringsliv report alleged that Tidal’s subscriber numbers were inflated. The paper said according to multiple sources and documents that Tidal’s true subscriber base in September 2015 was closer 350,000—Jay-Z tweeted it was 1,000,000—and in March 2016 was 850,000—although Tidal said 3,000,000.

    I just don’t see how Tidal finds a place in this market. If you want a streaming service, you’re using Spotify or Apple Music, if you want random songs or videos, you’re using YouTube. I don’t see any place for Tidal to grab a foothold.

     
    Raku likes this.
  2. Ska Senanake

    Trusted

    I bet Jay-Z and team are trying to find a way to cut their losses and save some face for how big a failure its been. I bet the end is near given the new Jay and Bae release is already on spotify. I wonder if there is any kind of competitive advantage (algorithm or software) they could sell to Spotify or Apple music.
     
    Raku likes this.
  3. EntryLevelTank

    "Draft Day" is a good film Supporter

    I think their hopeful place was in exclusive content but music isn't TV. People aren't gonna hold on to a Tidal subscription waiting for the next Jay Z album like they do Netflix waiting on Stranger Things or whatever.
     
  4. I tried using Tidal a few days ago to listen to The Carters, and it wouldn't work in-browser because I needed to update my FLASH PLAYER. Like, Flash, really? No thanks. I gave up.
     
  5. Eml182

    Regular

    Audiophiles. Tidal embraced MQA and integrates with boutique software, such as ROON and BluSound. Not sure the subscriber number is large enough of a market to make a difference for them, however.
     
  6. skullbird

    Newbie

    They know they can't realistically compete with apple and Spotify. They're a branding tool, throwing tidal in a bunch of mercedes, shit like that.
     
    Raku likes this.
  7. TerrancePryor

    https://mp3sandnpcs.com/ Prestigious

    Plus, people will just leak their "exclusive" music anyway to piss off Tidal. That Jay Z/Beyonce album was already in zip files an hour after it dropped/
     
    Raku likes this.
  8. Former Planets

    Aaaachem!

    They should double down by making Tidal exclusive to Pono players.
     
    Chase Tremaine likes this.
  9. jorbjorb

    7 rings

    I dislike how there is no free trial. I never really got to use it.
     
  10. Craig Manning

    @FurtherFromSky Moderator

    I’m genuinely shocked Tidal has survived this long.
     
  11. And hit the bigger services on Monday. I just waited and didn't even bother trying to find the leak or make an account. I knew it'd be coming sooner or later.
     
    Raku likes this.
  12. bloodinthesand

    Regular

    It’s for the hifi enthusiasts
     
  13. elroyo

    Newbie

    or you know, google play music especially if you want to upload your own songs...
     
  14. ComedownMachine

    Prestigious Supporter

    I have Apple Music and I probably have hundreds of albums that I uploaded on my own. I even have fun organizing b-sides from Apple Music into their own albums because you can edit the metadata
     
    HueyLewis and Jason Tate like this.
  15. tomtom94

    Trusted

  16. ForestOfAllusion

    Old Aesthetic Prestigious

    This is the biggest problem. HiFi enthusiasts want physical media or FLAC files. They do not want to degrade sound by streaming. That's why I laugh when bluetooth headphones are marketed towards audiophiles. Ok, it's wired or nothing.
     
    Raku and Chase Tremaine like this.
  17. bloodinthesand

    Regular

    It’s a huge market actually
     
  18. xtbs7645x Jun 21, 2018
    (Last edited: Jun 21, 2018)
    xtbs7645x

    Newbie Prestigious

    The service was doomed from the start... for many reasons.

    1. For one thing its initial launch came off so damn pretensions and elitist.

    2. Most of the population does not give a shit about lossless audio (especially people who are streaming music).. and not for $20, which is just ridiculously overpriced. So the one thing that makes them unique.. really isn't important to most people. A niche market isn't going to make your service a success.

    3. Relying on exclusives is just a terrible business model. Music shouldn't be exclusive to any service whatsoever.. especially a full album. This just makes me instantly want nothing to do with your service. Also, it's proven to just lead to piracy.

    4. Theres no real draw to the service. Why am going to use Tidal on my iPhone, when I could just use Apple's own service. Also, while I don't use Spotify.. it obviously already has a huge community being the first streaming service.

    Jay Z is clearly way to prideful to end the service... but obviously it's not going to happen for them.
     
    Raku likes this.
  19. Serh

    Prestigious Prestigious

    Only thing I'll defend about Tidal (and I'm just going off what someone I follow says) is that they apparently have plenty of hip-hop releases on their service that you can't get on Spotify and Apple Music, so that's nice I suppose