Square buys Tidal for $297 MM

On the newswires this AM

So what will we experience first, a monthly subscription fee increase, expanded access to more obscure music, or improved sonic quality?

Beats me. The story just caught my eye.

Probably improved SQ is at the bottom of the list :wink:

The article mentions the underlying purpose is to “… focus on the most critical needs of artists and growing their fanbases.” Last I heard, probably the most critical need of artists is to see more revenue from streaming, so do the math.

Given that Jack Dorsey is now one of the cooks in the kitchen, it would not surprise me to see some “conservative” Country Western artists get disappeared if the libretto or their Twitter feeds are not sufficiently “woke”

I must be old. I have no idea who this guy is. :man_shrugging:

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I remember he’s a cofounder of twitter or something like that. Lots of $$$

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Apparently he’s the twitter guy.

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Ah. That explains it. I don’t Twit. :laughing:

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Founder of Twitter and also the Square payment system. Reportedly worth somewhere near $5 billion, so this deal is chump change… :money_mouth_face:

If he was an audiophile he could actually afford one of the Techdas Airforce 1 turntables . . .

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If he’s a Twitter guy, then the Airforce 1 would be there purely for show.

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With all of the other services out there, and an overwhelming number of 18 - 30 year-olds using Spotify, I assume if they are going to open up the user base, we may actually see a lower tier offering before we see an additions to a higher tier. I don’t see any other way to increase the user base.

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December 17, 2020 Forbes estimated that @$18 bn. So he could acquire a couple other pocket change HiFi businesses.

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That’s an interesting thought and I would not be surprised if they offered an ad-based TIDAL.

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Oh, right you are! A pair of Beats would be just fine. :laughing:

It’s not a bad idea either. Almost all of my non-audiophile friends use Spotify and only a few of them have ever heard of Tidal. If they start offering an ad-based service and increase their marketing to the Spotify market, it’d probably help them a lot.

I always thought it was weird how hard they push modern hip-hop but I’d guess 95% of their subscribers could care less about that crap.

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Bye bye Tidal. I’m out.

Bonjour Qobuz. Vive la difference!

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It’s a matter of time. Most news feeds and online movie streaming eventually went that route, especially targeted ads.

The $$ is in hip-hop, rap, and the latest new thing. Our musical desires are merely a distraction to the Corporate streamers.

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@jamesh You have non-audiophile friends? Blasphemy!!! I’m telling Paul and Scott!!! :wink:

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My wife and kids use Spotify and they use the hifi system as it detects Spotify Connect. Thanks to my son I have a working knowledge of Rap and Hip-Hop. A lot of it is great stuff.

Jazy-Z has been trying to cash in Tidal for years. At one point he tried to sell it to Sprint. If you read this article, it looks like Square are looking to get the endorsement of Tidal’s celebrity investors, including Jay-Z. So he’s using Tidal as a marketing tool for Square.

If you read the press release, it implies that artists could be able to merchandise through Tidal. So if you want to buy a T-shirt or vinyl, you do it through Tidal rather than Amazon. If that’s the idea, it’s a good one.

I see your point, but logistically the fulfillment process will be quite an undertaking. 100’s of thousands of artists many of them selling products to fans all over the world. I suppose this could work if Tidal teamed up with Amazon or some other reseller. I wouldn’t underestimate this challenge.