[tokendog]

 
Yes, ruination could happen.  Or not.  I don't have enough information to predict.  MOG/Beats is a sample size of one, and thus can't be used as a prediction or a trend.

 
vs. a sample size of 0? I mean you work with what you have, but as you said, my fears may not occur. I hope in this case you are right. Like I said previously, I can't say it will happen, only that it could based on what has happened in the past in similar situations. 
 
Anyways, I think we would both agree that we hope it doesn't as Tidal is a good option (albeit pricey IMO) vs. the currently available competition.
 
Another fear is that your average user doesn't/couldn't tell you the difference between the low quality bitrate and high quality bitrate. That coupled with the cost of increased bandwidth usually leads to companies who started with a passion of offering high quality music but are later bought out by those who wish to take on the likes of Apple and Spotify to find ways to cut cost...and that usually equates to the cuts occurring in the area that impacts the minority of your customers and keeps/draws the majority.
 
JayZ / Project Panther has been stated by news agencies as going after iTunes / Spotify. As far as I am aware, iTunes/Spotify do not offer the same quality music as Tidal. So if Jay Z & Co. did purchase Tidal and did in fact decide to go after Apple / Spotify, it would have to become more competitive. Which means it would have to offer lower priced tiers and those tiers would likely offer less features and a more competitive bitrate in line with what the competition is offering. Whether or not Tidal would keep it's higher quality bitrate is, in a business sense, up to whether or not the cost is justified by the benefit of keeping those minority of customers who in fact not only care but can actually tell the difference in the higher bitrate being offered in the first place. Which, as I stated, is a minority...and businesses are usually not in the business of catering to the minority.
 
High quality bitrate is a passion - it cost more money to both store and stream.
Low quality bitrate (or a middle ground in quality) is a business. (Pandora, Spotify, Iheartradio, Rhapsody, etc etc. etc.) It's profitable because people can't or don't know the difference, it cost less to store, and it cost less to stream = profit.
 
Anyways, we will see what happens. I hope I am wrong, absolutely. As then it means at least Tidal keeps doing what it does best.

 

[Phishin Phool]

Look what I saw today-

 
Jay Z’s move into streaming music may go down as the biggest blunder of his business career. Aspiro, the Swedish company that owns the music streaming services WiMP and Tidal and that the music icon acquired last month for $56 million along with a larger investment group, revealed in a report that it does not have enough money to survive for the next 12 months. The same report revealed that its prospects for catching up or taking market share from Spotify are slim to none.  

"Given the current strategic plan and the associated capital needs, the company is not fully funded for the coming 12 months,” Aspiro's board admitted. Turning the ship around, the report continues, will require “significant capital injections over the coming years” as well as “a dedicated owner with relevant experience and knowledge as the streaming market is highly competitive and evolves rapidly.”

full story

http://www.ibtimes.com/jay-z-bad-businessman-wimp-tidal-struggling-streaming-music-services-raise-questions-1820460

 

[Krutsch]

  Look what I saw today-
full story

http://www.ibtimes.com/jay-z-bad-businessman-wimp-tidal-struggling-streaming-music-services-raise-questions-1820460

 
Yeah... for all the audiophiles people that rant about how important lossless audio is, this will be a lesson reminder that 99.99% of the music listening world is completely satisfied with high quality, lossy compression.
 
Something that doesn't often get talked about is the difference in bandwidth requirements to stream millions of tracks in 44.1/16 FLAC versus Ogg/320 (Spotify's chosen format, IIRC). The difference is real $$$ for a business model that is already operating on razor thin margins.

 

[gmatthews7919]

Well - I got charged twice for my subscription last month and there is no way to even talk to anyone to sort it out. I've emailed but it's a black hole. Sad really as I enjoy the service.

 

[aamefford]

I've been using tidal for about 3-4 months. I like the service and quality. In the end though, I'll probably bail due to a very buggy iphone app. I typically plug in via CCK or Oppo's mobile input on my HA-1. The app crashes roughly every 3 to 6 songs. Add to that a cumbersome app layout and the benefits of lossless get offset by the buggy-ness of the app. I won't hold my breath, but maybe mr. rapper's money will fix the app....

 

[Scotty141]

So I think Jay-Z's used his high-profile celeb friends to help promote Tidal, which is great and looks like it's got some exclusives coming its way!
 
Artists like Rihanna, Daft Punk, Beyonce, Kanye West, Madonna, Taylor Swift, Coldplay, Calvin Harris, etc. all seemed to have signed up and making a huge splash (pun intended) on Twitter http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-32114250
 
They're having some conference in 2 hours time (countdown on Tidal's website), so it will be interesting to see what comes out of it...

 

[Phishin Phool]

Cool, if Jay-z can use his celebrity to save or bolster tidal that would be great.

 

[Zoom25]

I remember reading that Tidal was planning on decreasing the cost of Tidal's lossless streaming from $20 to approximately $15. Guess they aren't doing that yet. Maybe testing out the waters with their new celebrity promotions before cutting the prices?

 

[crafty0121]

I would join Tidal if the subs were lower!

 

[waynes world]

I would join Tidal if the subs were lower!

+1. $10/month and I'd join. But then again, I'm cheap lol.

 

[Billheiser]

+1. $10/month and I'd join. But then again, I'm cheap lol.

Think of it as $20/month to have the world's biggest, most varied, full resolution and convenient CD collection. And where some of what you pay goes to the artist. Pretty darn cheap for all that.

 

[Phishin Phool]

For me it would also have to be $10 a month as there is a ton of music (most likely the majority of my music) that I listen too that is not on Tidal. Luckily a vast majority of it is on Archive.org for free.

 

[waynes world]

Think of it as $20/month to have the world's biggest, most varied, full resolution and convenient CD collection. And where some of what you pay goes to the artist. Pretty darn cheap for all that.

Fine, go ahead and cloud the issues with facts.

 

[yay101]

For me the ONLY issue is a complete lack of an api. Until they provide something useful none of these services will get a dime from me.

 

[waynes world]

For me the ONLY issue is a complete lack of an api. Until they provide something useful none of these services will get a dime from me.

I'm curious... please explain why that is important to you. Thanks.