This group analysis of Tidal streaming service was conducted in a Marketing Management course. It includes thorough research in the company's current operations, as well as a fully integrated marketing mix of recommendations to help the company gain market share and boost positive consumer perception.

1. Jiajie He — Sarah Horn — Ryan Mulvihill-Pretak — Manny Pham

2. Analysis

3. Value Proposition
➢High fidelity (hi-fi) music files (1411 kilobytes per second, vs. 320 kbps)
➢Direct and transparent financial benefits to artists: first-tier artists (16) each
received 3% of the company share and second-tier artists a smaller amount
➢Exclusive content from artists
“Seamless listening across mobile, tablet, desktop
and network players. Enjoy lossless music
streaming on Apple devices from iPhone, iPad and
iPod to Mac, as well as on PC and Android systems.
Plus integration in a wide range of high fidelity
network players.” - Tidal website

4. Company
March, 2015
➢ Jay-Z acquired Aspiro for $56
million
➢ Jay-Z relaunched Tidal with
celebrity-packed press conference
November, 2015
➢ Over 1 million subscribers
➢ Company executives exiting
➢ **Failing to gain traction**

5. Context
Music Industry Landscape
Physical Woes VS. Digital Delight
1H (first 6 months) Revenue of 2015:$3.2 billion
➢Physical Formats: $0.77 billion 14%
➢Streaming Service:$1.02 billion 19%
➢Permanent Downloads:$1.28 billion 2.5%

6. Context
Streaming Service Landscape
Freemium VS. Subscription
Total Streams of 1H 2015:$1TRILLION!
➢Subscription Service: 25%
➢SoundExchange Distributions: 20%
➢On- Demand Ad-Supported: 27%
Note: $0.006 to $0.0084 per stream
1500 streams= 1 album ($9）

7. Context
Profit Distribution System
➢Artists earn 7%
➢Record Labels grab 45%
➢Streaming Platform get 20%
➢Songwriters and publishers split 10%

8. Consumer
➢Audiophile/DJ/Music enthusiasts
➢Regular Americans listening to
radio on daily basis
➢From Millennials to Gen Z

9. Consumer

10. Competition

12. VS.
➢ 75M users, (20M paid
subscribers)
➢ Spotify Free ($0.00),
with ads
➢ Spotify Premium ($9.99),
ad-free
➢ Family plan ($5/mo/extra
person),
50% student discount
➢ Desktop and mobile
apps for most
➢ 1M subscribers
➢ Tidal Premium ($9.99),
ad-free, 320 kbps
➢ Tidal HiFi ($19.99),
ad-free, 1411 kbps
➢ No desktop or mobile
app for Windows
Phone, Phone, Mac, etc.
➢ Pays more to the artists than
competitors (all miniscule
amounts, even still)

13. ➢Record labels
➢Ticketmaster
➢Artists (hip-hop especially):
Jay Z, Beyoncé, Rihanna,
Nicki Minaj, Alicia Keys,
Kanye West, Calvin Harris,
Daft Punk, Madonna
➢Unsigned (independent) artists
Collaborators

14. Product
➢ 40 million songs
➢ 90,000 music videos
➢ Tidal Rising
➢ Tidal Discovery
➢ Exclusive Dramas
➢ Exclusive Comedies

15. Price
TIDAL HiFi:
$19.99 in the US
£19.99 in the UK
€19.99 in Europe
$96 HKD in Hong
Kong
TIDAL Premium:
$9.99 in the US
£9.99 in the UK
€9.99 in Europe
$48 HKD in Hong
Kong
Apple charges a 30% surcharge
on the monthly subscription.
Students in the US are eligible
for a 50% discount.
Discounted family plans are
available.

16. Promotion
➢ October 20: Tidal X
concert
➢ Made in America Festival
➢ Barclay’s concerts
➢ Celebrity endorsements
➢ Social media presence

17. Place
➢Mobile Apps
➢Desktop Options: Windows, Mac and Web Player
➢Home Audio Compatibility: Sonos, etc.

18. Value Proposition, revisited
1. Indifference towards HIFI music
a. Lack proper equipment to distinguish
between low-bitrate and hi-fi audio
b. Mobile users: concern of larger data
usage for essentially similar content -
corresponding to US data plan
2. Consumers indifferent to artists’ benefits
3. Left with . . . exclusivity
1. High fidelity (hi-fi) music files
(1411 kilobytes per second, vs.
320 kbps)
2. Direct and transparent financial
benefits to artists: first-tier
artists (16) each received 3% of
the company and second-tier
artists a smaller amount
3. Exclusive content from artists

19. Recommendations

20. Pricing
BEFORE:
Tidal Premium ($10/mo) - 320kbps
Tidal HIFI ($20/mo) - 1411kbps
Change offerings by blending sound quality of Premium and HIFI
together. 320kbps is still HQ sound, and the average target consumer does
not care about any extra quality.
May anger small group of people (some past HIFI subscribers), but
making the product cheaper and simpler will gain subscribers.
NOW:
Tidal Premium ($9/mo) - music-only
Tidal Xclusive ($15/mo) - full-content

21. Pricing
Premium ($9): cheaper than before, cheaper
than competition -> gain greater market
share!
Xclusive ($15): cheaper than old HIFI with a lot of
interesting content -> unique differentiation!
Approximate growth rates - Cheaper price (Premium) and quality, unique product (Exclusive) will increase subscribers,
with approximately increasing growth rates for 3 years.

22. Promotion
ADVERTISING
➢ Free college concerts
➢ Student fairs (College Fest)
➢ #SocialMedia presence
➢ College ambassadors
➢ Popular music shows (The
Voice)
Spread awareness, build positive
DISCOUNTING
➢ Student Discount & Family Plans
➢ Reference Discounts
➢ Conversion Discount: old Premium
($10) to new Exclusive ($15), get
first year with no price change.
➢ Emphasize free trial
Gain more subscribers and market
share
Promote to target audience: young people

23. Product
➢ Focus on exclusive contents by artists for
fans
○ Video premieres
○ Bonus tracks and demos
○ Behind-the-scenes in the studio
➢Optimize customer experience
○ Tailor tempo-matching playlist for runners

24. Place
In-Car Entertainment
➢Spotify with BMW
How about Tidal with Chrysler?
➢Spotify with Uber
How about Tidal with Lyft?

25. Jay-Z and Samsung
➢History of partnership (MCHG)
➢Jay-Z recently took a meeting
with Samsung (rumors flying)
➢Rihanna just signed a
sponsorship deal for $25 million

26. Samsung Partnership
Why?
➢ Samsung just shut down Milk Video
service and it’s music service isn’t doing
well, either
➢ Samsung has 28.7% market share of
smartphone users (54.55 million in US)
➢ Apple partnership with Beats
How?
➢ Preinstall Tidal on all Samsung devices and
give users a free trial
➢ Samsung users get exclusive content vs. other
Tidal users
➢ Samsung markets Tidal to customers
➢ 25% retention would be an additional 13.5
million users (50% or 27 million)