By JURNEE LOUDER -Junior Digital Copy Editor
TIDAL, a new music streaming service, will hopefully benefit the artists and the fans while revitalizing the music industry.
On March 30, American rapper and entrepreneur Shawn “Jay Z” Carter held a live, star studded press conference on his YouTube channel. Musicians including Beyonce, Nicki Minaj, Madonna and Jason Aldean got together to announce their new musical endeavour, TIDAL. Those who watched the press conference or saw others react to it on Twitter had very mixed reactions.
TIDALHIFI, also known as TIDAL, is a new subscription-based music streaming service. With other popular music streaming services like Spotify and Pandora Radio, many were left to wonder why there was a need for a new one.
TIDAL is supposed to cut out the middleman and streamline music and content directly from the artists to the consumer. This means that artists get paid more for their work. Spotify and Pandora are both notorious for underpaying their artists. In 2014, American recording artist and producer Pharrell only made $2,700 from songwriter royalties from his hit song “Happy” which was played over 43 million times on Pandora. In that same year, Taylor Swift removed all of her songs from Spotify because she felt that her art was devalued.
The goal of TIDAL is to pay back artists with the money they deserve. The artists receive 75 percent of the royalties they make from their songs being streamed. This means that the consumers will have to pay a monthly price for using TIDAL– $9.99 for the standard version and $19.99 for the higher quality version. But, the fans get their rewards too. TIDAL offers exclusive content like concert tickets and never before seen videos. Rihanna released her song “American Oxygen” on TIDAL before releasing it anywhere else.
Fans and critics alike have all chimed in on TIDAL. Some of its detractors feel that this is only a ploy to get the rich even more richer. They also feel that it’s pointless to spend money on music when it’s free and easy to find online. Fans believe that this is a new step to revitalize the failing music industry.
After experiencing the $20 version of TIDAL for about a month now, I have mixed feelings about the service. First off, the hi-fi $20 version is supposed to sound more high quality than the standard $10 version. After using the free 30 day trial before completely buying the service, there is no distinct difference between the quality of both versions with higher quality headphones. But when using cheaper headphones and earbuds, the $10 service does sound less crisp. Depending on circumstances, the $20 version may not be the best service for everyone.
TIDAL’s selling point is that it offers exclusive content to fans first. While this may sound good in theory, the exclusive content doesn’t stay exclusive for very long. Since we live in a highly digital age, once something is posted on the internet, it’s very easy for it to be reposted on other forms such as YouTube and Twitter. This fact remains the same for TIDAL.
I like what TIDAL is trying to achieve. I like the fact that artists are getting paid more for their art, and in return, the customers benefit by getting exclusive content. Sure, TIDAL isn’t a perfect company, and it won’t be for everyone. It just started up, and it needs to work out some of its flaws. Either way, music lovers should definitely consider giving it a chance.
