Tidal denies reports it will run out of money in six months

The Jay-Z-led Tidal music streaming service is denying a report that it only has six months of cash left.

Norway’s Dagens Næringslivclaims it is losing both money and users, and that after allegedly losing NOK$368 million (A$58.1 million) in 2016 before tax, it just has six months of cash reserves.

This is despite the fact that in January 2017, US wireless/mobile company Sprint brought in Tidal to the tune of US$200 million.

Of this, $75 million was to be used to fund original content.

Jay Z’s business partner and Roc Nation Sports president Juan Perez told the newspaper that the $200 million gives Tidal “sufficient working capital for the next 12-18 months.”

A Tidal spokesperson later told Engadget that the streaming service will break even soon and go into profit in mid-2018.

“We have experienced negative stories about Tidal since its inception and we have done nothing but grow the business each year,” the spokesperson added.

Part of this claim could be backed up by data released by app Annie in September that Tidal is now the 27th top-grossing app on the iOS App Store and the third-highest-grossing music streaming service after Pandora in first place and Spotify in second place with a #15 revenue ranking.

This isn’t bad going, with Tidal making more money on iOS than YouTube Music, iHeartRadio, and popular dating apps as Plenty of Fish and Zoosk.

Tidal was an ambitious plan to aim at high fidelity users, charging double the monthly subscription that other major services did, on the basis that audiophiles would be happy to pay more to better hear their music.

Last month, Deezer moved into the space, launching a desktop-only app in beta for its Premium+ subscribers. Next month, its subscribers will have to move to Deezer Hi-Fi paying $19.99 a month, same as Tidal subscribers.

Spotify trialled a lossless content option earlier in the year but has not moved forward since.

The actual take-up of Tidal remains a mystery.

In September 2015, Jay-Z tweeted that Tidal had reached a milestone of 1 million users.

However that was challenged by Dagens Næringsliy, which insisted that an analysis of Tidal’s internal payments to record companies suggested the figure was closer to 350,000.

Six months later, the rap impresario was claiming 3 million, while the newspaper scoffed it was 850,000. Another claimed figure by Tidal around this time was 1.2 million.

No updates have come from Tidal about user numbers, which is probably a sensible approach.

In any case Tidal is a long way behind Spotify’s 60 million subscribers (as of July) and Apple Music’s 30 million (as of September).

Tidal operates in 52 countries, and says on its website there are plans to expand even further.