Many are wondering if the Tidal streaming service is on it’s last leg? Just last week Jay Z also a majority co-owner pulled majority of his catalog off the competitors streaming service Apple Music and Spotify. His catalog will only be available on Tidal Streaming Service in a effort to try to boost subscribers.
In January of this year Tidal announced sold a 33 percent stake in the company to Sprint for $200 million, giving it access to the telecom company’s 45 million customers. This is a big adrenaline shot as Tidaal gets a huge potential audience injection and infrastructure support.
Tidal’s key selling point is exclusive content. Also it is an artist-owned streaming platform was stated as to “restore the value to music by launching a service owned by artists. Right now they feature major artist such as Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Nicki Minaj, Daft Punk, Jack White, Madonna, Arcade Fire, Alicia Keys, Usher, Chris Martin, Calvin Harris, deadmau5, Jason Aldean and J. Cole.
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My question is why is Tidal Streaming Service failing? The majority of the subscribers are black with 1 million paying subscribers, but has had fallen even further behind the sector’s leaders Spotify and Apple Music in number of paid subscribers. Everyday I hear black people say we need to support black owned business, but some how the hate and disdain gets in the way. Some African Americans feel musicians are getting rich off the consumers hard earned money. Some consumers want to know where there money goes which is a legitimate question. Most African Americans want to know if the corporation that I am spending money on, will they invest in the same communities that help build their brand.
Jim Crow, when segregation forced Black businesses to depend on the Black business market and it was urged by community leaders to keep neighborhoods afloat. Since segregation was outlawed support for black owned business has gone by the wayside.
Look at it in this perspective, African Americans have a opportunity to open a door in another sector of business besides, film making, music making and producing. This is a chance to diverse of portfolio as a people.
Prince said it best in a interview with Ebony.com last year about his decision to exclusively put his catalog on Tidal, “I think when there’s a company like [Tidal], or the OWN network—situations where we finally get into a position to run things—we all should help.”
Of course you shouldn’t invest your money into a company without proper research, but if the company is ran by someone who looks like you and has faced the same oppression as you, but has a history donating their time and money into the same people and communities they were risen deprive from why wouldn’t you.
