Prince pulled yet, another “Gemini:” the dual-natured usual of the proverbial say one thing but do another.
As if his few entrances and exits on Twitter over the past five years isn’t Gemini enough, as a united front and show of solidarity to Jay Z and Tidal, the reclusive, private Artist Formerly Known As Prince [turned “Prince” again], just removed all his music from all streaming services in early July and just this week, released his newest single “Stare” to Spotify—not Tidal. That is a good indicator the rumors are true (that Jay Z is walking away from Tidal).
This move sent tongues wagging and minds boggling, but like all Prince’s other moves; despite his disinterest of full disclosure, it was well-thought out and served his very own best interest.
Because as you may (or may not know), rumors are circulating that has Jay Z finally come to his senses and realized his fight to ride the tides of Tidal was futile and perhaps more about not wanting to fail in front of the millions that for years (and by their election): he was hailed.
Hits Daily Double reports:
Tidal has gone eerily quiet of late, apart from statements of support from Nicki Minaj and Madonna, and the word is that Jay Z is looking to get out. This ambitious undertaking has cost him millions of his own money because he never got the expected funding, he still hasn’t paid the licensing fees to the rights holders and no one is likely to throw him a life preserver and bail him out, so he has little choice at this point except to stop the bleeding. What will his exit strategy look like? Interesting to note that it’s not Apple, Sony, UMG or WMG that could be putting the final nail in the Tidal coffin, but Cash Money’s Slim and Baby Williams, with their copyright-infringement suit against the service for its recent exclusive with alienated label artist Lil Wayne.
Be that as it [may be], this is probably one of the best, less stressful decisions he could have ever made right now because sometimes you just can’t go against what is: Tidal can’t compete right now.
What Went Wrong with Tidal?
You’ve already read me say that Tidal went in this on sheer ego and a half-cocked strategy. Tidal banked heavily on the influence of those 16 artists stretched across that stage without considering the competition. That was a bad move and they deliberated on that as their strength, strategy, and attraction. They really thought the COMBINED influence of all 16 of those people would see them through without going relying on what their niche was that separates them from the rest—because they basically considered their “niche” the brand and influence of those 16 people-straight back to that.
Although the market isn’t running rampant with music streaming services run amok, the handful of top ones (like Spotify for example) had to mastermind a “get niche quick” scheme in order to compete (when Apple got in the game). Tidal had zero niche out the gate. They went at it on brand only. That set them back big time.
Niches v. Brands
The point is, like blogging (since I blog, I can speak on that as an example). Although
