In 2024, TIDAL has an estimated 5 million active users according to recent data. This marks steady but slow growth for the music streaming service owned by Square. TIDAL reportedly had just 3 million paid subscribers back in 2016, so it has added 2 million users over the past 6+ years.
While TIDAL remains much smaller than rivals like Spotify and Apple Music, it has managed to carve out a niche audience of music lovers willing to pay for high quality audio. Let‘s take a deeper look at where TIDAL stands today and where it could be headed in the future under Square‘s wing.
Contents
- The Evolution of TIDAL‘s User Base Since Launch
- How Does TIDAL‘s Market Share Compare to Other Major Services?
- There Is Strong Consumer Interest and Demand for TIDAL
- Square‘s Acquisition Could Propel TIDAL‘s Growth
- TIDAL Offers Premium Sound Quality for Discerning Listeners
- What Does the Future Hold for TIDAL?
The Evolution of TIDAL‘s User Base Since Launch
To fully understand TIDAL‘s current 5 million user figure, it helps to look at how the service‘s subscriber base has evolved over time.
TIDAL launched in 2014 under its original owner, Aspiro AB. At the time, it had an estimated 500,000 users according to Spotify data.
In early 2015, rapper Jay-Z purchased TIDAL for $56 million through his company Project Panther Bidco. By the end of 2015, TIDAL claimed to have hit 1 million subscribers already under Jay-Z‘s ownership. However, this major growth in such a short span raised eyebrows across the industry.
In March 2016, a TIDAL press announcement stated the service had surpassed 3 million subscribers globally. This time, Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv accused TIDAL of inflating its numbers. But while skepticism lingered around TIDAL‘s user statistics, the company was bringing in an estimated $100-200 million in annual revenue by 2016.
Flash forward to 2024, and most analysts estimate TIDAL now has around 5 million paying subscribers. Streaming music services are notorious for not sharing detailed user numbers, so it‘s impossible to know the exact figure. Nonetheless, TIDAL seems to have roughly doubled its user base over the past 6 years.
Here‘s a quick timeline summary of TIDAL‘s key user milestones:
- October 2014 – TIDAL launches, soon reaching 500k subscribers
- March 2015 – Jay-Z acquires TIDAL for $56 million
- December 2015 – TIDAL claims 1 million subscribers
- March 2016 – TIDAL claims 3 million subscribers
- 2023 (estimated) – TIDAL reaches around 5 million subscribers
So TIDAL is adding users, but its growth is slow and steady rather than exponential. Now let‘s look at how its market share stacks up against the competition.
Despite having just 5 million subscribers, TIDAL has managed to secure a small but meaningful share of the global music streaming market.
According to Midia Research, Spotify dominates with a 31% market share, while TIDAL holds around 1-2% share. Here‘s how it stacks up against the top players based on Q2 2021 market share data:
| Streaming Service | Market Share |
| Spotify | 31% |
| Apple Music | 15% |
| Amazon Music | 13% |
| Tencent Music | 13% |
| YouTube Music | 8% |
| NetEase Music | 6% |
| Deezer | 2% |
| **TIDAL** | **1-2%** |
As we can see, TIDAL is still a relatively small player compared to global giants like Spotify and Apple Music. But it has managed to stay competitive with other second-tier streaming services like Deezer. And while TIDAL does not disclose financials, its 1-2% market share likely represents millions in revenue.
TIDAL also over-indexes in some key demographics, like among hip-hop and R&B listeners. So while its overall subscriber base is just 5 million, it has found an engaged niche.
There Is Strong Consumer Interest and Demand for TIDAL
In addition to its paying subscriber base, we can also look at consumer interest and demand for TIDAL based on online search trends and app downloads. These metrics give a broader view of TIDAL‘s popularity beyond just its number of paying users.
According to 2020 data, TIDAL ranked among the top 10 most-searched music streaming services averaging 990,000 Google searches per month. In comparison, Apple Music averaged just 1.21 million searches per month.
TIDAL also sees strong demand on mobile. It currently has over 1 million installs on Android phones according to the Google Play Store. And Apptopia estimates TIDAL has seen roughly 3 million iOS downloads to date.
So while TIDAL has 5 million paying subscribers, the service likely reaches millions more through free trials and organic app downloads. There seems to be significant consumer interest beyond TIDAL‘s core premium user base.
Square‘s Acquisition Could Propel TIDAL‘s Growth
One of the most pivotal events for TIDAL was its acquisition by Square in 2021 for $297 million. This gave TIDAL the financial backing and strategic resources of Jack Dorsey‘s payments company.
Square‘s motivation for acquiring TIDAL is clear. Its Cash App is highly popular with young hip-hop fans – the same demographic that TIDAL resonates with. Owning TIDAL can help Square and Cash App gain cultural cachet and brand awareness with music artists and creators.
And from a business perspective, Square may envision integrating TIDAL more deeply with Cash App to facilitate music streaming payments and musician payouts. Square is also building a decentralized Bitcoin exchange, which TIDAL could plug into to pay artists in cryptocurrency.
Overall, Square‘s acquisition unlocks a range of growth opportunities for TIDAL that simply were not possible with Jay-Z‘s resources alone. With Square‘s backing, TIDAL may aim to double its subscriber base again in the next 2-3 years.
TIDAL Offers Premium Sound Quality for Discerning Listeners
One of TIDAL‘s key selling points since launch has been its focus on delivering lossless, high-fidelity audio quality to listeners. This remains a core part of its value proposition today.
The service offers two premium tiers:
- TIDAL HiFi – $9.99/month for CD-quality 1411 kbps audio
- TIDAL HiFi Plus – $19.99/month for 9216 kbps Hi-Res Lossless audio
These tiers cater to audiophiles who want CD-quality or better audio from a streaming service. TIDAL combines its high bitrate music streams with personalized recommendations and curated editorial content.
For comparison, Spotify Premium streams at just 320 kbps, while Apple Music maxes out at 256 kbps unless you use AirPods Max. So TIDAL is targeting music lovers who care passionately about sound quality.
What Does the Future Hold for TIDAL?
TIDAL still faces an uphill battle competing with far larger players like Spotify and Apple. But its acquisition by Square could give it the ammunition needed to carve out a sustainable niche.
On the positive side, TIDAL has several tailwinds:
- A loyal audience of 5+ million subs willing to pay for premium audio
- Strong demand and interest beyond its subscriber base
- Financial backing and strategic resources from Square
- Differentiation via exclusive content and high quality audio
Challenges TIDAL still needs to address:
- Continuing to grow its subscriber base
- Finding more ways to convert demand into paid subscribers
- Improving app functionality and experience
- Cultivating exclusive content with top artists
- Expanding brand awareness and recognition
If TIDAL can leverage Square‘s strengths to tackle these challenges, its future looks bright. The service sits at an intriguing intersection between music streaming technology and business model innovation.
TIDAL may never unseat giants like Spotify. But with 5 million loyal subscribers and an influential brand in the hip-hop community, TIDAL has the foundation to thrive as a quality-focused music streamer if it can fulfill its potential under Square.
