Jay-Z's Tidal App Might Not Be As Good For Artists As He Thinks

by A. Mia Logan

Since it has switched over its ownership to Jay-Z, people haven't stopped talking about Tidal. While a lot of the public seems to support the streaming service and their commitment to artistry, there's an entire internet community that seriously hates it.

Regardless of where you fall on the spectrum, Tidal's promise of exclusive content from the greats and promotion of newer artists is a nice ideal, and one that most music fans can get behind. Except that, like other aspects of Tidal, it might not even work.
According to Billboard, the exclusivity of Tidal's content as well as its price might actually make it harder for your favorite artists like Beyonce, Drake, Kanye West and Rihanna to stay on top of the charts.

Simply put, by limiting the amount of people with access to your music, (because you are charging too much!) the harder it will be for popular artists to hit #1 and reap the benefits of more spins. Maybe this is the reason so many artists (except Rihanna, who is managed through Jay-Z's RocNation and Beyonce, his wife) are holding out on releasing new music on Tidal right now.

Regardless, Tidal is going to have to use this beta testing period wisely if they ever want to compete with Spotify or any other non $20 a month streaming service.
For now, we just wait and see.