In another wave of bad news for Jay-Z and his fellow musician co-owners’ new streaming service, TIDAL has fallen out of the top 700 download chart for iPhone users in the United States. TIDAL is not faring much better in the UK, where it has been confirmed that the service has slipped out of the top 500 downloaded apps for iOS and Google Play Store. The news of poor sales comes less than one full month after the service was released to the public on March 30.
In comparison to their weak sales, TIDAL’s primary competitorsm, Pandora and Spotify, are sitting pretty in the top 25 on the United States. Pandora, one of the original streaming services for streaming music, remains in the top ten at the number seven spot, while Spotify, TIDAL’s main competitor, is sitting at number 23. It has been presumed that TIDAL was created by Jay-Z in an effort to combat free streaming, a practice that is encouraged by Spotify.
News of slowly slipping sales comes in the wake of news that TIDAL was “restructuring” their employee ranks and had let go of their CEO Andy Chen. Chen was replaced by Peter Tonstad, who is alleged to have a “better understanding of the industry and a clear vision for how the company is looking to change up the status quo.” Along with Chen, it has been rumored that at least 25 other employees were asked to leave the company. Many have hypothesized that the restructuring could be perceived as a desperate bid to save the company in the wake of its poor sales.
Since TIDAL was released for public consumption, several high profile musicians have negatively reviewed the service. Lily Allen, Mumford & Sons, and several others have criticized the company, implying that it is all about the rich getting richer while ignoring musical artists who truly would benefit from a better streaming service.
Although the response has been tepid at best, Jay-Z and his crew of co-owners have continued in their efforts to save the company. In recent days it has been revealed that Jay-Z and Jack White have been calling costumers who utilize the service. The company has also continued forward with the release of exclusive material in an effort to keep the company interesting. It remains to be seen if their efforts will turn things around.
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