Could Jay-Z's TIDAL revolutionize music streaming payments to artists? (Talking Trends)

Welcome to the latest episode of Talking Trends, the weekly podcast from Music Business Worldwide – where we go deep behind the headlines of news stories affecting the entertainment industry. Talking Trends is supported by Voly Music.This week on Talking Trends, host Louise Porter asks MBW founder, Tim Ingham, about a raft of new changes coming to TIDAL – the music streaming platform founded by Jay-Z, and acquired by Jack Dorsey's Square earlier this year for over $300 million.Last week, TIDAL announced three big changes were coming to its service in 2022: (i) That it would launch a free tier for the first time, allowing non-TIDAL-subscribers to listen to music on the platform; (ii) That it would introduce 'direct to artist' payments on its most expensive ($19.99 per month) tier, that will see a proportion of each subscriber's monthly payment go direct to that subscriber's favorite artist; and (iii) The adoption of a 'user-centric' payment system, like that launched by SoundCloud earlier this year.Ingham (pictured) explains the details behind all three moves – and considers the impact they might have on fans, artists, and the wider music business.Talking Trends is supported by Voly Music, the new bespoke financial management platform for people in the music business.The Music Business Worldwide Podcast is supported by Voly Music.