The Most Important Music Streaming Service You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Steve Jobs, Daniel Ek, Jeff Bezos, and Shawn Carter. What do these people all have in common? Each one of them either directly or indirectly founded the most popular music streaming services on the market today. Apple is Apple. Many people at one point had an iTunes account and now use either Apple Music or Spotify, which is the most popular online music service currently. Amazon Music is trying to give the other two a run for their money, with YouTube quietly leading all of them as far as total viewership worldwide. With these being the most popular options and not one really standing out above the other as far as quality, why should you choose one over the other? The truth is you shouldn't have to decide between just these options.

Who doesn't like an underdog story? Shawn "JAY-Z" Carter does. In 2015 he transformed newly bought Norwegian streaming company, WiMP, into TIDAL with a new vision for the music streaming industry. With Mr. Carter being majority shareholder, he co-owns the music service with fellow industry artists such as Rihanna, Nick Minaj, J. Cole, Alicia Keys, Lil Wayne, Jason Aldean, Usher, Jack White, Daft Punk, Madonna, and wife, Beyonce. What other music service is actually owned by the artists it makes most of its money off of? Combine that with the fact that TIDAL pays their artists more per stream than any other music service and it creates the ideal situation for any artist to be in.

TIDAL's exclusive, superb quality content speaks for itself and is truly superior to Spotify, Apple Music, and YouTube. Other than the fact that you can't even listen to JAY-Z's music on any other streaming service, TIDAL has exclusive albums, songs, videos, playlists, podcasts, interviews, and concerts you quite literally cannot view anywhere else. One of the main draws for the service originally was its high fidelity sound quality. For HiFi users, there is also an option for many lossless songs that sound the way the artist intended. Beyond that, members have first dibs to concert tickets unavailable to nonmembers and other popup events exclusive to TIDAL. TIDAL X allows artists to engage with their fans in innovative, new ways such as live shows, meet and greets, and other events. Rihanna's Fenty runway show was streamed exclusively on the service with a select few chosen to attend the actual event. JAY-Z and Beyonce's charity concerts two years ago at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY were attended by over 1,500 TIDAL members invited through their membership. When Kanye West was still a co-owner he invited over 500 members to attend his Yeezy Season 3 and 4 fashion shows in New York.

However, what TIDAL does for up-and-coming artists and the community as a whole is why it is the most important music streaming service out there. TIDAL Rising helps to promote artists with already solid fan bases to a much larger audience through promotion, PR, and other marketing means. These include front page placement on the app for new releases and tour support, which is how each individual artist makes most of their money at least starting off. They also help these artists with label relations and cultivating stable growth within the music industry. TIDAL's focus is the long-term success of all their artists. Every year in mid-October, the service hosts its "TIDAL X" charity concert in Brooklyn at the Barclays Center. Last year the event raised over $3.7 million that was donated for relief in Puerto Rico, Houston, and parts of Mexico after Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria. This year the concert's proceeds went to four different criminal justice and prison reform organizations throughout the country.

Social responsibility is becoming more and more important for consumers across the nation when considering who they should buy from or do business with. Considering all of the factors that set TIDAL apart from its competitors, perhaps their biggest attribute is their clear understanding of just how important that responsibility is.