Recently we’ve seen a lot of different reports as to what the future holds for Tidal. We’ve heard that Samsung, Google, and Spotify have all expressed interest in the company, but it seems that Samsung is the most serious of all the contenders.
Here’s the problem: There’s no official comment from Samsung or Tidal. Sources are claiming that they’re keeping whatever is or isn’t going on very quiet just in case there’s a leak.
Why does Tidal need saving? For one, they only have around 1 million subscribers compared to Spotify’s 20 million+ subscribers and Apple Music’s 10 million subscribers. We admire Tidal’s good intentions as an artist-owned collective, but we’ve seen this move coming for a while.
Samsung and Jay Z partnered up in 2013 for the release of his album Magna Carta Holy Grail where they gave away one million free copies to those who downloaded an exclusive app. They had a similar deal for Rihanna and her Anti album which released at the end of January. Samsung also sponsored Rihanna’s latest album and tour to the tune of $28M. They’ve been building relationships with some of Tidal’s big wigs for some time now.
Now what could this partnership really mean? Samsung joining forces with Tidal could turn into the perfect competitor for Apple Music. But until someone gives us some real information (we’re looking at you Samsung and Tidal), we can only speculate. This could be a positive change for both companies, making Samsung relevant in the music business and giving Tidal a chance to reach a wider audience and actually be a competitor. Whether any of those results will come to fruition is unknown at this point, but we’re on the lookout.
Will Tidal ever be a worthy competitor for Spotify and Apple Music? What would have to happen to make it so?
Important things happen in Pacific Northwest nightlife, and DMNW will send you alerts!
