Kanye West (L) and JAY-Z onstage at the Tidal launch event #TIDALforALL at Skylight at Moynihan Station on March 30, 2015 in New York City.Jamie McCarthy—2015 Getty Images
Jay-Z’s new music streaming service Tidal is facing a healthy dose of skepticism despite the high-profile list of artists that have invested in the company. However, the startup may have a fighting chance against streaming heavyweights like Spotify (and Apple’s upcoming new service) if it can hammer out a key partnership.
Sprint, the third-largest wireless carrier in the U.S. with 56 million subscribers, is working on a deal with Tidal to distribute the service to its customers. “We are working together in partnership for the vision of the common cause of reestablishing the value of music,” Sprint said in a statement to USA Today to dispel rumors that the company had already bought a stake in Tidal. “It is NOT a financial investment or exclusive partnership.”
Details are murky, but there is plenty of precedent for deals between music streaming services and wireless carriers. When Beats Music launched in January, it offered a discounted family plan to AT&T subscribers that let up five people to use Beats accounts for a combined $15 per month (five subscriptions would cost $50 per month normally). Sprint itself is currently offering six months of Spotify Premium for free to customers on certain wireless plans.
“Every major digital music service that you might care to name have dedicated senior executives whose mission is to do nothing but bundling deals with mobile operators,” Larry Miller, a music business professor at New York University, told TIME when the Beats-AT&T deal was rolling out.
A bundle deal would be especially helpful for Tidal, which lacks the name recognition of Spotify or the Apple-owned Beats Music. And the more tightly packaged the service is into customers’ wireless plans, the better for Tidal — Spotify has found that customers who sign up for so-called “hard bundles,” in which its music service is included in the standard monthly rate instead of as an add-on, end up keeping Spotify 80% of the time even after the discount period ends.
Tidal will need a lot of other things to go right to gain a toehold in the streaming space. Carrier partnerships can be lucrative, but also fleeting—the heavily promoted AT&T-Beats tie-up ended in October. Eventually, the service will simply have to stand as a better user experience to overcome its competitors.
Beyonce arrives at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating "China: Through the Looking Glass" on May 4, 2015, in New York City.Evan Agostini—Invision/APBeyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. MTV/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards rehearsals at The Forum on August 23, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter—Getty ImagesBlue Ivy Carter, Jay-Z and Beyonce speak onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. MTV/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs during the "On The Run Tour: Beyonce And Jay-Z" at Minute Maid Park on July 18, 2014 in Houston, Texas. Larry Busacca—WireImage/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs during the "On The Run Tour: Beyonce And Jay-Z" at the Rose Bowl on August 2, 2014 in Pasadena, California. Larry Busacca—WireImage/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs with her sister Solange onstage during day 2 of the 2014 Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival at the Empire Polo Club on April 12, 2014 in Indio, California. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty ImagesBeyonce performs onstage during the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. 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