That’s Business, Man: Why Jay Z’s Tidal Is a Complete Disaster

bloomberg.com

13 points·spking··5 comments

"It’s too early to write off Tidal"

No it's not. It's over. There's no coming back from a $75M in debt at startup that makes no money with no end in sight. You'll need more investment. But who invests in companies that already owe huge debts and have terrible press? People that expect major ownership and a change in leadership, that's who. Or people that want to pick through the bones and pull out IP.

Maybe I'm wrong but if they get another infusion of cash, or make a profit in the next 3 years and bootstrap their way back, I'll be surprised.

Wasn't this technically their exit? Jay-Z bought Tidal...

I wrote an article[1] on what I think Jay Z is planning with Tidal. I do think it's far too early to write it off. Jay Z and the other coowners of Tidal have something that Spotify and co really lack. Domain knowledge.

1 http://cranesandcaffeine.com/against-the-current/

It might be interesting if there was some cited basis for the speculation about what Tidal might do. Sure, Tidal's owners are insiders, but you've made a giant leap from "they're insiders" to "this is there specific plan".

It would be a huge leap but Jay-Z has specifically said this was his exact plan. To create a platform that eases a musicians journey from recording to streaming and ultimately to money making.

In my opinion, here's the weirdest part of Tidal's message: "We cut out the middleman and passed the savings on to... well, actually, we raised the price. Enjoy!"

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