Tidal Opens for Business

“TIDAL for all.” That’s the slogan for Jay Z’s new high-fidelity music streaming service, Tidal. But with a $19.99 a month service fee, it probably isn’t for everyone, especially those already paying for Spotify or torrenting most of their music.

Tidal Launch Event NYC #TIDALforALL

So what’s the deal? Well first off, Tidal is geared towards supporting artists, something that many claim Spotify doesn’t do. Jay Z is not the only one whose face is slapped on this thing. Host company, Aspiro, has also convinced other huge music celebrities including Jack White, Deadmau5, and Nikki Minaj to endorse Tidal as stakeholders. On top of just audio playlists (streaming in FLAC format for those familiar), Tidal is also currently streaming music videos. The service is available in-browser (on their website) and also in app form, like iTunes or Spotify. Currently it is unclear whether or not Tidal will offer exclusive streaming for particular artists, the way iTunes has exclusivity over The Beatles, but it seems a definite possibility.

In regards to competing with companies like Spotify, in his interview with The Fader Jay Z says “…we’re really not here to compete with anyone, we’re actually here to improve the landscape. If just the presence of Tidal causes other companies to have better pay structure, or to pay more attention to it moving forward, then we’ve been successful in one way…We want to do a very specific thing, we want people to come to Tidal for a specific sound, a specific experience…After that, the world decides. The universe decides.”