Despite reports of increased subscribers off the success of Rihanna and Kanye West’s latest albums, industry insiders believe Jay Z’s Tidal is struggling.
Samsung has restarted talks with Hov to take Tidal off his hands, several sources told the New York Post.
There’s also there’s some chatter that Samsung may have written a check to Kanye West for its involvement in The Life of Pablo, according to HITS industry insider I.B. Bad.
“Samsung is re-engaging,” a source close to talks posited to Atkinson. “They are working on something really big, and they’re keeping it very quiet in case it leaks.”
In I.B.’s upcoming column, he further points out that insiders believe Tidal is hemorrhaging north of $10m a year in red ink.
Google and Spotify have also reportedly been eyeing Tidal in the belief that the premium service, though struggling, can boost their own digital music services. Spotify has even discussed creating an initiative that could produce a Tidal “powered by Spotify” partnership rather than an acquisition.
Around the time of the launch, Tidal principals believed it was worth as much as $250m. It’s presently believed to be valued at about $100m.
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