Tidal was the talk of the town just a few weeks ago, but already it seems that Jay Z’s lossless music streaming service is falling out of favour with the masses.
Having been one of the iTunes App Store’s top 20 most downloaded apps in the days following its high-profile launch at the hands of artists such as Madonna, Kanye West and Rihanna, the Tidal app has since slipped to a lowly 872nd in the US download charts (via Music Week).
In contrast, Tidal rival Spotify is currently the 18th most popular iOS app in the US.
It’s not just stateside or on Apple’s platform that Tidal is failing to rack up the users either.
Here in the UK, the Tidal app has fallen from grace and currently sits outside the top 500 apps in both the iOS and Android stores.
Perhaps more worryingly for the Pandora challenger, however, is its lowly positioning in Apple’s dedicated music apps chart – 51st.
It is unclear why Tidal has failed to click with consumers, although existing allegiances and the service’s top-tier £20 per month fees are two likely causes.
Given that music streaming is widely enjoyed by mobile users, ailing app downloads are a good indicator of the company’s wider success – or lack there of.
Related: Tidal: The Story so Far
Despite series backing from some of the music industry’s biggest player, Tidal has not been without its critics in recent weeks.
Joining Lilly Allen and producer Steve Albini in slamming the service, Mumford & Sons frontman Marcus Momford recently branded the platform ‘tribalistic’ and ‘commercial bullshit’.
Jay Z bought Tidal for $56 million earlier this year before relaunching the artist-owned streaming service on March 30.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.