Tidal Streaming Service's Loss of $28M Rocks Jay Z's Boat

Tidal, a music-streaming service, more than doubled its losses since Jay Z and other musicians bought the company early last year, posting a $28 million net loss for 2015.

Aspiro AB, the Swedish holding company that Jay Z’s group acquired, reported the 239 million Swedish kronor loss despite a 30 percent increase in revenue, The Wall Street Journal reported. Its 2014 loss was about 88.9 million Swedish kronor.

Aspiro AB is struggling to compete with music-streaming rivals, Spotify and Apple Music. Despite major efforts in promoting Tidal, consumers have been reluctant to pay for music they can easily access for free using other streaming services, the WSJ noted.

Aspiro’s financial statement describes “a company straining to pay its bills” as its debt to suppliers experienced a big increase from 34.7 million kronor in 2014 to 158 million Swedish kronor in 2015, the WSJ reported.

Aspiro hasn't commented to reporters. The company said in its financial statement that a board assessment concluded that the company lacked proper funding for 2016 but added, “The board believes the company will be able to secure new financing,” the WSJ noted.

Despite Tidal expanding its user base to 4.2 million paying subscribers in June, that’s still behind their main competitors Apple Music with 17 million paying subscribers and Spotify with 30 million, the WSJ noted.

Tidal hopes to boost its number of subscribers with exclusive releases like Beyoncé’s "Lemonade," Kanye West’s "The Life of Pablo" and Rihanna’s "ANTI," Hip Hop Wired reported.

Those three artists are co-owners of the company, Billboard reported.

Tidal charges its subscribers $20 per month, which gives them access to a 40 million-song catalog and $10 a month for download-quality sound, the WSJ noted.

• Jay Z Says Firm That Sold Him Tidal Inflated Subscriber Numbers
• Jay-Z Defends His Tidal Music Streaming, Claims It’s Not a Flop
• Jay Z’s Aspiro Purchase Puts Him in Music Distribution Biz