Less than a year after its last round of layoffs, streaming service TIDAL has reportedly announced further job cuts.
According to an internal memo obtained by Fortune, TIDAL owner Block is planning significant job reductions so that the DSP can operate “like a startup again.”
“So we’re going to part ways with a number of folks on our team,” Block CEO Jack Dorsey (the former CEO of Twitter) wrote in the memo.
“We’re going to lead with engineering and design, and remove the product management and product marketing functions entirely. We’re reducing the size of our design team and foundational roles supporting TIDAL, and we will consider reducing engineering over the next few weeks as we have more clarity around leadership going forward.”
A TIDAL spokesperson confirmed the planned layoffs to media, saying that the streaming service has “made some internal changes to our TIDAL team to focus on serving artists in the most meaningful way. This involved the elimination of some roles across our business and design teams. We are going to be smaller, focus on fewer things, and move with a relentless approach to product development.”
The spokesperson didn’t specify a number, but Fortune reports that speculation within the company is for as many as 100 job cuts, which would amount to about a quarter of TIDAL’s staff.
TIDAL eliminated 10% of its payroll – or about 40 employees – in December 2023, following a letter to investors from Dorsey announcing that Block would cap its total payroll at 12,000.
“As we continue to view the business through the lens of our investment framework, we continue to find opportunities for constraints we believe will lead to greater growth. We implemented one of these a year before our IPO: an absolute cap on the number of people we had at the company,” Dorsey wrote in the letter.
“We are going to be smaller, focus on fewer things, and move with a relentless approach to product development.”
TIDAL
TIDAL continues to struggle with market share in an ecosystem dominated by much larger players such as Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube Music. The DSP had 2.1 million subscribers in 2020, according to documents filed in a lawsuit. By comparison, Spotify had 130 million paying subscribers at that time (and 246 million as of Q2 of 2024).
The streaming service was launched in 2014 by the Swedish-Norwegian firm Aspiro. The following year, Jay-Z and several other prominent artists acquired it for $56.2 million through the holding company Project Panther Bidco.
In 2021, Block – still known at that time by its former name, Square – acquired TIDAL for $297 million. Some of Block’s shareholders sued, arguing the company’s board had breached its fiduciary duty by buying a “failed” music service.
In 2023, a Delaware judge dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that the suing shareholders hadn’t followed the legally required procedures prior to filing the suit. However, the judge described Block’s acquisition as “a terrible business decision.”
Despite its difficulties, TIDAL continues its efforts to establish itself as a go-to destination for music fans who appreciate high-quality sound. Earlier this year, TIDAL merged its HiFi and HiFi Plus offerings into a single tier priced at $10.99 per month in the US.
In August, the DSP launched a new tool that enables indie artists to track their streams on the service and ensure they are being paid correctly.Music Business Worldwide