#BRANDFAIL OF THE WEEK: Tidal

Tidal ‘puts the power back in the artists hands’ is what the star-studded owners told us at the launch.

They are ‘taking back control’. Giving people ‘a higher level of product’. They are ‘educating the audience on what good should sound like’. They are offering ‘unique experiences and content (the only bit that’s perhaps feasible and worth any premium). They are ‘The Avengers of Music’, who together oversaw an ill thought through launch.

If you don’t feel like watching the whole thing, skip to around 16:30 and watch their laughable combined attempt to ‘sell’ Tidal.

At today’s prices, Tidal is twice as expensive as Spotify in the USA. Whilst I appreciate the need for artistic control, let’s not pretend that’s what this is really about. It’s about cold hard cash (which as we all know thanks to Madonna, is always Mr. Right). The artists get less revenue from streaming. The radio landscape continues to evolve. Sales for most artists aren’t what they use to be (which places even more pressure on them to tour to bring in the big money).

It’s well documented most of the multi-millionaire Tidal crew aren’t happy about streaming. But is this really the answer in 2015? Whoever helped them craft their well polished boo hoo lines missed a trick. They should have majored on doing this for the future. The starving artists struggling to get by. The ones the record companies / streaming leave behind. The talent who won’t benefit from the financial breaks they had. The talent they want to nurture and support. The talent you can support. The talent we all can all support by choosing Tidal.

Had they chosen to position this around helping artists, it might have stood a chance. But as it stands, it’s made them all look like a horribly out of touch wealthy elite. A bit like another gaggle of SW1 inhabitants that will keep bothering us till May 7th…

Iain G. Morrison is a senior marketer in the third sector. And will be sticking with Spotify for the forseeable…