Tidal Loses CEO

[bmoura]

Billboard Magazine reports today that Tidal has lost their CEO. 

A replacement will be named soon.
 

Quote

 

"The nature of Toig's departure remains unclear, but a source with knowledge of the situation indicated that he actually exited in March. (His LinkedIn profile has not be updated to reflect the career change, however.)

 

Jay Z bought the Swedish technology company Aspiro and its WiMP streaming service, renamed Tidal, in early 2015 for $56 million. A splashy launch, featuring star power from the likes of Beyonce, Kanye West, Daft Punk and Nicki Minaj, followed soon after.

Since then, the company has struggled to attract-and-retain paid subscribers during a period in which streaming now accounts for more than half of music industry revenues. At last unofficial count, the service had an estimated one million paid users, far behind leaders Spotify and Apple Music (50 million and 20 million, respectively)."

 

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7809477/tidal-ceo-jeff-toig-departure-jeffrey-new-executive

 

[crenca]

7 minutes ago, bmoura said:

Billboard Magazine reports today that Tidal has lost their CEO. 

A replacement will be named soon.
 

 

http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7809477/tidal-ceo-jeff-toig-departure-jeffrey-new-executive

 

 

This is a problem for me.  Roon's value is much much less without Tidal.  My current listening (particularly around discovery) is Tidal dependent.  Tidal's demise (is it tomorrow?  next week?) will mean an adjustment...

[blownsi]

Same as crenca.  My Roon sub is up in August and the absence of Tidal would not only make me cancel it but it also make me feel as though I've lost years of (convenience) progress.  

[The Computer Audiophile]

Did I miss something that said Tidal was closing its doors?

[crenca]

2 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

Did I miss something that said Tidal was closing its doors?

 

No. However, this uneasy feeling I have about the viability of the company (based on it's well know woes) is not groundless I don't think...or is it?

[The Computer Audiophile]

Just now, crenca said:

 

No. However, this uneasy feeling I have about the viability of the company (based on it's well know woes) is not groundless I don't think...or is it?

 

It's tough to say. I've heard people in the know argue it both ways. The fact that Sprint purchased 33% of the company for $200,000,000, gives it a valuation of roughly $600,000,000. Sean Carter purchased Tidal for $56,000,000 in 2015. Based on this, the company appears to doing much better than many believe. 

[loop7]

Sprint's purchase leads me to believe the company will be around for a while. 

 

My only concern being that all of us lossless customers may be considered niche and abandoned.

[rickca]

I expect the change in CEO is directly related to Sprint's purchase of 33% of TIDAL.  I'm sure that Softbank wants their own guy leading the company.

[The Computer Audiophile]

23 minutes ago, rickca said:

I expect the change in CEO is directly related to Sprint's purchase of 33% of TIDAL.  I'm sure that Softbank wants their own guy leading the company.

 

With only 33% of the company?

[rickca]

19 minutes ago, The Computer Audiophile said:

 

With only 33% of the company?

Private equity typically gets to replace some board members with their own people even with a much smaller stake.  Softbank is now probably the largest single shareholder in TIDAL.  

[GUTB]

A CEO departure always means a large "change" is forthcoming. By "change", of course, I mean a reduction. Sprint will leverage the platform somehow, and all the other stuff Tidal does is going to be eliminated. I bet you streaming audiophiles is not a market anyone cares about. Tidal tried to bring audiophile grade sound to the streaming masses, but the masses have proven over and over that they don't place a high value in sound quality.

[crenca]

1 hour ago, GUTB said:

A CEO departure always means a large "change" is forthcoming. By "change", of course, I mean a reduction. Sprint will leverage the platform somehow, and all the other stuff Tidal does is going to be eliminated. I bet you streaming audiophiles is not a market anyone cares about. Tidal tried to bring audiophile grade sound to the streaming masses, but the masses have proven over and over that they don't place a high value in sound quality.

 

This is a real possibility I think.  Although I give it less than say, 33%...

[james45974]

1 minute ago, crenca said:

 

This is a real possibility I think.  Although I give it less than say, 33%...

I don't have a horse in this race, don't use Tidal or Sprint but I find the business part of the news interesting.  A wild card is the talk of a T-Mobile / Sprint merger recently in the news.  Also, not sure about GUTB's scenario but to get to an even more basic argument, if the bean counters don't see any value in the audiophile market in terms of potentially making money, which after all is the bottom line, then sayonara!

[trappy]

The only thing I'd say against that is what is Tidal without the lossless / Tidal Masters material? It's really the only distinction they have vs Spotify, etc. 

[james45974]

12 minutes ago, trappy said:

The only thing I'd say against that is what is Tidal without the lossless / Tidal Masters material? It's really the only distinction they have vs Spotify, etc. 

and even that is not getting the subscriber base numbers moving up much at all in the whole scheme of things!

[rickca]

I doubt that TIDAL is going to drop their CD quality or MQA streaming.  It is what differentiates TIDAL from other services.  Since Spotify is considering hi-res, the most pressing issue for TIDAL may be how to retain its current subscribers and grow faster.  

 

We really haven't seen what Sprint plans to do yet.  You don't invest $200 million just to pull the plug.  

[james45974]

Market Cap of Sprint 34.15 billion

Market Cap of T-Mobile 54.33 billion

Market Cap of Softbank 9.79 trillion

Market Cap of Tidal, peanuts! (couldn't find a market cap value) $600 million value(?)

 

Market Cap of Spotify, potentially 11-13 billion, waiting for an IPO

Market Cap of Pandora 70.54 billion

Market Cap of Apple 803.6 billion

 

I'm not a finance person, maybe someone could help the discussion!  

 

I would think that the people at Roon, Tidal, and MQA may have some restless nights ahead!

[trappy]

Never quite understood why Pandora is so popular. What's the appeal there?

[james45974]

12 minutes ago, rickca said:

I doubt that TIDAL is going to drop their CD quality or MQA streaming.  It is what differentiates TIDAL from other services.  Since Spotify is considering hi-res, the most pressing issue for TIDAL may be how to retain its current subscribers and grow faster.

 

There is that audiophile conceit again of thinking that they are any kind of market or trend setters!

 

Dr. Seuss comes to mind and the audiophile community are a population of Whos, members of a minuscule community on a speck of dust!  All we have to do is make noises in greater amounts!  Everyone turn up the volume and open your windows!

[AudioDoctor]

Exactly why I am still buying physical media...  These streaming services seem to come and go way too regularly.

 

I would like to see TIDAL and cd quality/Masters Quality streaming stay however.

 

edit: I refuse to pay for less than lossless quality.

[rickca]

11 minutes ago, james45974 said:

There is that audiophile conceit again of thinking that they are any kind of market or trend setters!

 

I don't know where you got that from my post.  I was just talking about a business issue.

[james45974]

24 minutes ago, rickca said:

I don't know where you got that from my post.  I was just talking about a business issue.

I apologize for misunderstanding, I took your thought about Tidal keeping CD and Master quality as something that will make a difference in the grand scheme of things, market-wise!

[bobbmd]

how does one  'LOSE' a CEO? I have never lost my CFO and she still lives with me!

 

[bobbmd]

1 hour ago, james45974 said:

Market Cap of Sprint 34.15 billion

Market Cap of T-Mobile 54.33 billion

Market Cap of Softbank 9.79 trillion

Market Cap of Tidal, peanuts! (couldn't find a market cap value) $600 million value(?)

 

Market Cap of Spotify, potentially 11-13 billion, waiting for an IPO

Market Cap of Pandora 70.54 billion

Market Cap of Apple 803.6 billion

 

I'm not a finance person, maybe someone could help the discussion!  

 

I would think that the people at Roon, Tidal, and MQA may have some restless nights ahead!

isn't that what all you naysayers want and wish for since its inception and the addition of MQA-who really gives a Schiit?

bobbmd

[The Computer Audiophile]

2 hours ago, james45974 said:

Market Cap of Sprint 34.15 billion

Market Cap of T-Mobile 54.33 billion

Market Cap of Softbank 9.79 trillion

Market Cap of Tidal, peanuts! (couldn't find a market cap value) $600 million value(?)

 

Market Cap of Spotify, potentially 11-13 billion, waiting for an IPO

Market Cap of Pandora 70.54 billion

Market Cap of Apple 803.6 billion

 

I'm not a finance person, maybe someone could help the discussion!  

 

I would think that the people at Roon, Tidal, and MQA may have some restless nights ahead!

if 33% of the company is worth 200 million ...