On its first anniversary, Tidal hits 3 million subscribers

The Jay Z lead Tidal has marked its one year anniversary on March 30 by revealing it now has three million subscribers across 46 countries including Australia.

The company announced, “By offering artists more creative control and fans exclusive access to offline experiences and live streams, the platform quickly transformed the traditional streaming subscription model into an entertainment experience never before attempted by a single streaming service—and in less than 12 months.

“TIDAL now offers nearly 40 million songs and 130,000 high-quality videos, hosts exclusive live streams and events, produces intimate fan-centric experiences through TIDAL X, and features original scripted video content and concerts.”

Tidal lags well behind Apple Music, which got 10 million users within its first six months in January, and another million in February. Both are well behind Spotify, which this week announced it had 30 million subscribers.

Nevertheless, the indication is that after a high profile but clumsy start (three CEOs, leaks, user complaints of higher costs and limited catalogue), Tidal’s growth is accelerating. It started with 560,000 when it relaunched last March at a cost of US$56 million, and hit its first million by September, an accomplishment which it celebrated with a Jay-Z concert.

The expansion has been due to the nine exclusive content debuts it has boasted. These included albums by Beyonce and Prince, The Life of Pablo by Kanye West – which was streamed 250 million times in its first ten days – and ANTI by Rihanna, which was downloaded 1.4 million times in its first 24 hours.

The service’s draw also includes exclusive video content, such as West’s Yeezy Season 3 fashion show, which had 23 million viewers. It debuted two original video series Money & Violence and No Small Talk and video debuts including Madonna’s Bitch I’m Madonna, Dead Weather’s Impossible Winter, Usher’s Chains and Calvin Harris’ How Deep Is Your Love. Tidal also offers behind-the-scenes video content like the Where I’m From series, which showcases the beginnings of acts as C-Kan, Yandel, Judith Hill, Jidenna, and Lili K.

Tidal, which offers higher artist royalties has, in recent months, also added Lil Wayne, Indochine, Damian Marley and TIP as its co-owners. They join Beyonce, Kanye West, Madonna, Calvin Harris, Usher, Nicki Minaj, Deadmau5, Rihanna and Jack White among other heavy hitters.