STREAM EXCLUSIVE ORIGINALS

Tidal Just Scored a Brand New Deal, But There May Be a Catch

The streaming service still has some unfinished business.

Mobile cellular device company Sprint has caught 33 percent of the Tidal streaming service wave as Billboard reports that both companies have just entered a partnership deal boasting $200 million from the phone company.

Fortunately, however, the news comes right in the nick of time following an alleged claim that the Jay Z-owned music service had been inflating its subscriber numbers.  

According to Billboard, the new juncture with Sprint will allow the mobile service’s 45 million customers to have access to Tidal while Jay and his 24 music artists remain co-owners.

The deal will be especially beneficial to Sprint’s retail consumers as well, as the site reports that customers will receive exclusives from Tidal’s artists in an effort to connect with fans more closely. Additionally, Jay has also cleared a seat for Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s president and CEO, on the streaming service’s board of directors.

“Sprint shares our view of revolutionizing the creative industry to allow artists to connect directly with their fans and reach their fullest, shared potential,” the Roc Nation monarch shared in a statement, according to Billboard. “Marcelo understood our goal right away and together we are excited to bring Sprint’s 45 million customers an unmatched entertainment experience.”

Claure also shared his excitement for the new deal, commending the Brooklyn rap mogul for his steadfast development of Tidal.

“Jay saw not only a business need, but a cultural one, and put his heart and grit into building Tidal into a world-class music streaming platform that is unrivaled in quality and content,” Claure said. “The passion and dedication that these artist-owners bring to fans will enable Sprint to offer new and existing customers access to exclusive content and entertainment experiences in a way no other service can.”

But amid the deal, there has been some speculation on how Tidal might be currently crunching their subscription numbers, courtesy of a Norwegian business publication: Dagens Naeringsliv. In a report, there are suggestions that Tidal is trailing behind other streaming platforms, such as Spotify, by the millions, and the key players might be fluffing up numbers to help nab more subscriptions. Apple Music, Spotify and Tidal have remained in the vanguard of streaming service wars, throwing marketing curveballs left and right to secure their subscribers. But in terms of Tidal’s customers, other publications claim that subscription numbers have swelled at rapid rates, thus granting the service superb subscriber stats to boast.    

Regardless, we’re ready to see just how much the new business venture for Tidal might shift the subscription tide after all. 

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