Streaming service Tidal cuts 10% of its staff
Music streaming service Tidal, which is owned by Block, has let go over 10% of staff. This equates to around 40 employees.
In a statement regarding the cuts, Safe Ayodele, the company’s head of global communications, shared, “We can confirm, as part of Block and its recent announcement to cap the number of employees at the company to focus on business growth, Tidal has carefully considered how to right-size our team to ensure we are able to continue to build and invest in critical areas of the business.”
“We do not take these decisions lightly, and we are sincerely grateful for the contributions of our impacted teammates,” she concluded.
Tidal was first launched as an artist-first streaming service in 2014, spearheaded by the likes of Jay-Z and Beyoncé. Block, led by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, acquired majority ownership of Tidal in 2021. The company also owns payment services Square and Cash App.
Jeff Benjamin, who was part of the editorial team at Tidal, took to Twitter to share how he had been affected by the cuts. “You might have heard after Block/Square’s layoff plans,” he wrote, “my music and editorial teammates and I were affected today and I’m no longer at TIDAL. It was so great adding streaming, distribution and new industry areas into my journalism and media world.”
The cuts at Tidal follow similar news surrounding Spotify, one of the company’s streaming competitors. The streaming giant recently revealed plans to reduce their workforce by 17%, cutting around 1,500 jobs.
“I recognise this will impact a number of individuals who have made valuable contributions,” Spotify CEO Daniel Ek shared regarding their own cuts, “To be blunt, many smart, talented and hard-working people will be departing us.”
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