--- description: A deal that brings Jay-Z's Tidal music streaming service to Sprint customers could give the fledgling startup a big boost. title: How Sprint Could Help Tidal Actually Succeed image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt1914e2437872e0ef/6987869655a8595760a86a4f/468159920.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Media](/tag/media/) ## Media Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Sprint Could Help Tidal Actually Succeed by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 3, 2015 2:57 PM CUT  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. 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 by [Victor Luckerson](/author/victor-luckerson/) ## Victor Luckerson Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Apr 3, 2015 2:57 PM CUT Jay-Z’s new music streaming service Tidal is facing a healthy [dose](http://techcrunch.com/2015/03/31/giving-away-music-is-how-you-get-people-to-pay-for-it/ "undefined") of [skepticism](http://nypost.com/2015/03/31/jay-zs-streaming-service-is-already-doomed-unless-he-follows-taylor-swifts-footsteps/ "undefined") 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](http://9to5mac.com/2015/03/05/apple-plans-relaunched-beats-streaming-music-service-for-wwdc-skipping-march-event/#more-367854 "undefined")) 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](http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2015/04/02/jay-z-and-tidal-sprint/70843980/ "undefined") 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. **Read more:** [How Jay Z’s Tidal Press Conference Showed He’s Out of Touch](http://time.com/3765268/tidal-music-jay-z-beyonce/ "undefined") ### See 34 Gorgeous Photos of Beyoncé  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/AP  Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. MTV/Getty Images  Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards rehearsals at The Forum on August 23, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter—Getty Images  Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Jeff Kravitz—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Beyonce performs onstage during the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Kevin Winter—Getty Images  Blue 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 Images  Beyonce performs onstage at the 2014 MTV Video Music Awards at The Forum on August 24, 2014 in Inglewood, California. Jason LaVeris—FilmMagic/Getty Images  Beyonce 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 Images  Beyonce 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 Images  Beyonce 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 Images  Beyonce performs onstage during the 56th Grammy Awards at Staples Center on January 26, 2014 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Barclays Center on December 19, 2013 in New York, New York. Larry Busacca—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Barclays Center on December 22, 2013 in New York, New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Staples Center on December 3, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Larry Busacca—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during a concert in the Rock in Rio Festival on September 13, 2013 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Buda Mendes—Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Barclays Center on August 3, 2013 in New York, New York. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Izod Center on July 31, 2013 in East Rutherford, New Jersey. Larry Busacca—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on stage during "The Mrs. Carter Show World Tour" at the Staples Center on July 1, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Kevin Mazur—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Beyonce and Bibi McGill perform during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Christian Petersen—Getty Images  Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Win McNamee—Getty Images  Beyonce performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl XLVII Halftime Show at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on February 3, 2013 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Ezra Shaw—Getty Images  Beyonce sings the National Anthem at the inauguration for U.S. President Barack Obama's second term of office. Chris Maddaloni—CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images  Beyonce headlines the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 26, 2011 in Glastonbury, England. Samir Hussein—Getty Images  Beyonce headlines the Pyramid Stage at the Glastonbury Festival at Worthy Farm, Pilton on June 26, 2011 in Glastonbury, England. Samir Hussein—Getty Images  Beyonce onstage at the 2009 BET Awards at the Shrine Auditorium on June 28, 2009 in Los Angeles, California. John Shearer—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs on the main stage at the 13th Annual 2007 Essence Music Festival presented by Coca-Cola in the refurbished Louisiana Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. Skip Bolen—WireImage/Getty Images  "The Beyonce Experince" Tour featuring Beyonce plays to Philips Arena on July 7, 2007 in Atlanta, Georgia. Rick Diamond—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs during the Destiny's Child "Destiny Fulfilled" Tour in Los Angeles - September 2, 2005 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. John Shearer—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce performs during a Destiny's Child in Concert at Madison Square Garden in New York City, July 29, 2005. Theo Wargo—WireImage/Getty Images  Beyonce poses for a photo during a portrait session for the cast of "Dreamgirls" at the Carlton Hotel's Orange Lounge during the 59th International Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 20, 2006. Carlo Allegri—Getty Images  Beyonce performs during Rockin' the Corps Concert at Camp Pendelton in San Diego, California. J. 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