Beyonce and Jay-Z may want to think twice before using TIDAL to premiere the joint album they’re said to be cooking up.
For, if remarks made by the industry info source Hits Daily Double is anything to go by, the streaming service is to blame for the problems Rihanna’s ‘American Oxygen’ is said to be facing on the charts.
Their estimation below…
Jay Z’s Tidal has opted to ignore the new-artist sector in favour of superstars, and the strategy is not working. For example, it’s believed that Tidal’s total streams average around 1m a day, while individual tracks on Spotify regularly hit that number. Tidal’s top-heavy branding approach, with its emphasis on these older, established acts, simply doesn’t have the currency that Apple has maintained by prioritizing newer acts, having discerned early on that the discovery process is part of the cool factor. How is it that the world’s richest corporation has managed to retain its coolness while Tidal seems to have missed the boat? Not only have the initial Tidal exclusives failed to move the needle, the Rihanna video exclusive on “American Oxygen” appears to have actually hurt the launch of the song, which sold only 19k in its first four days.Deepening the irony, Jay’s Roc Nation is both her label and her manager. Thus far, Tidal is seen by most observers as a big miss.
As an act whose singles usually blast the charts from the onset there’s no denying this era of Rihanna‘s career has seen her struggle to do that.
Is TIDAL to blame for sucking the life out of ‘Oxygen’s opening numbers? Perhaps. However, I’d say that it stands as one of many barriers blocking the singer’s way towards ‘Only Girl in the World’ style success?
The biggest barrier? Her bravery.
For, it would have been far easier to release another batch of generic bops than to dig deeper for content just as unique as she is in the way she’s doing now.
So, here’s hoping the era’s shaky start doesn’t deter Rihanna from releasing the timeless material she owes her fans…and herself.