Tidal Streaming Service

[stingraybassman]

So I found myself moaning about the new Jay-Z fronted streaming service Tidal.

http://tidal.com/us

Marketed as taking the control back for the artists; I found myself a little bit confused at the whole message.

I thought I'd sign up for a free month to make an informed decision, 2 days in and the FLAC streaming has me suitably impressed. Certainly doesnt have the diversity of artists when compared to Spotify, but I'm sure this has room to grow.

Anyone else had a dabble?

[ambient]

I was reading about it last week, though I've not dug too deeply into it.

I don't like Spotify, it may be good for people listening to it, but not for people who supply the music. They pay 0.002 something and 0.004 something a time. I ended up with 40p last year I couldn't withdraw that either, imagine all the other 40p's lying around in their bank account.

[Lw.]

Not tried it & that PR thing they did the other week has pretty much made sure I never do; "we're the music worlds rich 1% but we need more money - you lowly poor person, pay twice as much for this service".

The whole taking it back for the artists things seems like pretty flimsy marketing to me; every streaming service has to give away equity in their new company from the off to the majors and a couple of the indies just to get the music licensed, then they have to front all of the set-up costs before paying around 75% of their revenues in royalties (gross) - all this service does is double the money to the corporate giants.

It's a personal choice as to whether you think the improved quality audio is worth it or not & I'm sure many people will but I think I'll stick to Spotify for now.

Edited April 7, 2015 by Lw.

[stingraybassman]

[quote name='Lw.' timestamp='1428413110' post='2741020']
Not tried it & that PR thing they did the other week has pretty much made sure I never do; "we're the music worlds rich 1% but we need more money - you lowly poor person, pay twice as much for this service".
[/quote]

Pretty much sums up where I was at, surely the USP is the fact the audio quality is great. I also think the people who value Hi Fidelity audio are a little more niche in their choice of music, so using the worlds best selling artists makes no sense at all.

But like I said, I wanted to make an informed decision.

[blamelouis]

Signed up for the one week trial and have to say the sound is great and superior to spotify and also better than qobuz.
Still think £20 a month is too steep.

[spongebob]

£20 a month? I think I'll stick with Deezer. Largest library of any of the streaming services, and sounds great as well.

[wateroftyne]

The balance needs to be tipped in the artists' favour, but the Tidal launch was an abject lesson in how to musjudge your audience. Laughable

[EliasMooseblaster]

"How Can I Publish My Music In TIDAL?
For unsigned artists, the easiest way is to register at one of these services:

1. Record Union
2. AWAL
3. Ditto Music
4. IIP-DDS"

Possibly a bit too early to ask whether anyone can comment on their experience as a content provider then...

[Old Man Riva]

Well he does need the money...

[url="http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/jay-z-to-pay-50-of-song-royalties-for-jazz-sample/061169"]http://www.musicweek.com/news/read/jay-z-to-pay-50-of-song-royalties-for-jazz-sample/061169[/url]

[stingraybassman]

Well it seems like its falling on its a*se spectacularly.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie sums up perfectly why;

[i][color=#333333]“I think they totally blew it by bringing out a bunch of millionaires and billionaires and propping them up onstage and then having them all complain about not being paid,”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#333333]“There was a wonderful opportunity squandered to highlight what this service would mean for artists who are struggling and to make a plea to people’s hearts and pocketbooks to pay a little more for this service that was going to pay these artists a more reasonable streaming rate. And they didn’t do it. That’s why this thing is going to fail miserably.”[/color][/i]

[LayDownThaFunk]

Why would you pay to stream music? Something you don't even own yet it's coming out your pocket. Even if it is the future...

[mcnach]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1430038601' post='2757235']
Why would you pay to stream music? Something you don't even own yet it's coming out your pocket. Even if it is the future...
[/quote]

Yet we pay to stream movies that we will also not own, and think nothing of it. Before that it was renting movies, so we also paid and didn't own.

Times are changing!

I wasn't a fan of streaming music. I wanted to own the files so I could play them anywhere, anytime. But as the availability increases, streaming starts to look more appealing.

It does seem like it's where we're going...

[wateroftyne]

People pay monthly for houses and cars that they'll never own. It's not that radical a concept.

[LayDownThaFunk]

That's what I don't understand. So much money going down the toilet.

[mcnach]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1430040557' post='2757266']
That's what I don't understand. So much money going down the toilet.
[/quote]

it's not money down the toilet, you pay for usage.
Like a beer... you pay for it, but you don't really own it. You use it and... it literally goes down the toilet, oh, so maybe it is money down the toilet after all
But that's after getting some value out of it.

[Roland Rock]

You pay to see a band play, but don't own the band - same concept. To those who have enjoyed the gig, it's money well spent.

[LayDownThaFunk]

Like half the basses on this site then!

[mcnach]

[quote name='LayDownThaFunk' timestamp='1430044562' post='2757317']
Like half the basses on this site then!
[/quote]

I misread that as "like half the asses on this site then"

[TimR]

People pay £90+ a month for Sky to watch that Football thing.

I agree, if it's a platform for aspiring artists then it has to be priced accordingly. If they want to get more money then maybe they should mix in some 'specailly selected' 'millionaires' records.

Someone should look at the business model a bit more closely. A lot of musicians (even just looking theough this thread) don't really get the money side of things do they?

Edited April 26, 2015 by TimR

[Lw.]

There's an article on the Guardian today stating that Tidal has 770k "subs" which I imagine they mean users (as that is a huge number of full-paying subscribers for the price & I think they're doing either discounted or free pricing tiers at the moment which will boost the numbers) but still relatively impressive for such a new service.

[Funky Dunky]

http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/22/jay-zs-tidal-app-falls-out-of-iphone-top-700-chart

I'll never use it. I will support my favourite artists through direct downloads from their websites and gig tickets. I don't want a penny of my money going to these charlatans.

*Awaits inevitable "Tim Burgess isn't involved" wisecracks*

[BigRedX]

[quote name='mcnach' timestamp='1430040138' post='2757259']
Yet we pay to stream movies that we will also not own, and think nothing of it. Before that it was renting movies, so we also paid and didn't own.

Times are changing!

I wasn't a fan of streaming music. I wanted to own the files so I could play them anywhere, anytime. But as the availability increases, streaming starts to look more appealing.

It does seem like it's where we're going...
[/quote]

But most people who are older than 6 don't want to watch the same movie over and over again.

I'm quite happy to pay to stream a movie once, and if I thought it was any good I'll be happy to pay in couple of years time to watch it again.

Songs that I like I will want to listen to all the time. If it's through a streaming service you are totally at the whim of the service and the artist allowing their music to be on that service. At least with a CD ripped onto my computer and iPod I can listen to the song whenever I want.

[Marvin]

[quote name='stingraybassman' timestamp='1429870185' post='2755729']
Well it seems like its falling on its a*se spectacularly.

Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie sums up perfectly why;

[i][color=#333333]“I think they totally blew it by bringing out a bunch of millionaires and billionaires and propping them up onstage and then having them all complain about not being paid,”[/color][/i]

[i][color=#333333]“There was a wonderful opportunity squandered to highlight what this service would mean for artists who are struggling and to make a plea to people’s hearts and pocketbooks to pay a little more for this service that was going to pay these artists a more reasonable streaming rate. And they didn’t do it. That’s why this thing is going to fail miserably.”[/color][/i]
[/quote]

Pretty much sums it up for me. Massive PR failure.

And all the issues raised in the Guardian article.

I'll stick to buying my music and sticking on my iPod. Partly because I can't afford to sign up to a streaming service AND have the mobile phone tariff to enable the data allowance I'd need (I listen to my music all the time, even if it's a 2 minute walk to the shops). AND the mobile phone network coverage is incredibly patchy where I live to almost make it worthless.

[EliasMooseblaster]

[quote name='Funky Dunky' timestamp='1430126945' post='2758107']
[url="http://www.theguardian.com/music/2015/apr/22/jay-zs-tidal-app-falls-out-of-iphone-top-700-chart"]http://www.theguardi...e-top-700-chart[/url]

[/quote]

"Meanwhile, Kanye West, another Tidal backer, has reassured people that the service is not part of the shadowy world-governing organisation known as the Illuminati. Which certainly clears things up. "

Bravo, Kanye. Because, of course, that's exactly what we were all thinking...

[TimR]

[quote name='BigRedX' timestamp='1430127159' post='2758112']


But most people who are older than 6 don't want to watch the same movie over and over again.

I'm quite happy to pay to stream a movie once, and if I thought it was any good I'll be happy to pay in couple of years time to watch it again.

Songs that I like I will want to listen to all the time. If it's through a streaming service you are totally at the whim of the service and the artist allowing their music to be on that service. At least with a CD ripped onto my computer and iPod I can listen to the song whenever I want.
[/quote]

Isn't this just like the BBC radio though. Technically you pay a license fee to listen to the radio/ watch TV. If you hear a song you like on the radio, you go out and buy it.

I don't know many people who buy songs from previously unknown artists without hearing them first.