As Tidal ebbs, Spotify and other rivals grow

Spotify may or may not be worth more than the entire U.S. recorded music business, but it has reason to feel confident about its chances competing against Tidal.

The bad news out of Tidal’s office has been unrelenting -- a CEO switch, reports of layoffs and now news that Tidal has slipped out of not only the iTunes top 20 app chart -- it’s tumbled from the top 700.

There are reasons Jay Z and Jack White are making house calls to keep fans’ spirits up.

But it’s also becoming clear that Tidal’s problems may be localized and not mark a general malaise in streaming music. Other streaming services seemed to have benefited from the news flurry around Tidal, even if Tidal hasn’t been helped by it.

Spotify and Pandora, the leading music-streaming apps, have jumped into third and fourth on iTunes’ revenue charts in the week since Tidal debuted, the first time the two services have been in the top 4. Spotify had been hovering below the top 40 since last year, so it’s clear something prompted this new interest from fans.

Perhaps even worse? Beats Music, the last streaming service to see a major launch and anemic fan interest, has unexpectedly seen a bit of a resurgence since Tidal’s debut. Beats Music is in the top 20 on iTunes’ revenue charts while undergoing a major overhaul from Apple, which hasn’t been pushing it much lately after a disappointing debut.

Even Kanye West, rarely one to question his own judgment on matters of taste and business, deleted early tweets championing Tidal before ultimately restoring them.

A representative for Spotify declined to comment or offer figures about how many users they’ve gained in the wake of Tidal’s launch. But in the meantime, Jay Z and Tidal may want to consider door-to-door visits.

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