After acquiring the company Aspiro back in March and launching a mega-campaign with 16 famous artists, it hasn't been an easy ride for Jay-Z and his music streaming service company TIDAL. The company gives back more to artists and labels from subscription fees, which was the major appeal to its high-profile backing. However, with a less-than-impressive launch, TIDAL announced new original content this week – headed by a comedy series called “No Small Talk,” hosted by New York DJ and radio personality DJ Cipha Sounds.
While prices differ by country, the service started by offering a $20 per month fee for the highest quality subscription ($9.99 for standard) that led to some backlash, especially since there were two versions of sound quality offered – one for HiFi (High Finity audio) and Premium (Standard). Critics did not feel that the separation in audio quality was receptive to the public and their listening needs.
Starting today, the first 5 episodes of the series are available on TIDAL for free if you're a user with new episodes released every Tuesday. To try and grab new users, the episodes of “No Small Talk” will be free for non-subscribers.
Tidal recently offered a free live stream of the TIDAL X: 1020 festival which had mixed reviews but had about 3.3 million viewers with Jay-Z as one of the performers. At the event, rapper T.I. announced that TIDAL would have another drama called “Money & Violence” debut on the service as well. This means TIDAL will have a total of two non-music shows featured on the channel heading into 2016
While the service offers exclusive content from some of the biggest names in music, the future still looks uncertain. The company has gone through two CEO's since launch and even confessed that their marketing plan was not executed like they hoped.
Visit TIDAL's website to check out “No Small Talk.” DJ Cipha Sounds, the host of “No Small Talk,” is a VJ for MTV and a former DJ for Dave Chappelle on the Chappelle's Show. He has a career in improv as well and has played a DJ in some major motion pictures. He was also a host of HOT 97 for 17 years before being let go in January.
With a live band and DJ, Cipha Sounds uses the show to help discover new comedy talent and engage the crowd in an interactive improv experience.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter / TIDAL
