Tidal adds concert ticketing, Lil Wayne becomes artist owner

Jay Z’s artist-owned music and video streaming service Tidal has widened its service to include concert ticketing through a partnership with Ticketmaster.

Available at this stage in the US only, users can view tour dates and buy tickets for exclusive concerts. Tidal members get access to presales, discounts and ticket giveaways.

The ticketing will be expanded to other territories, Tidal executives said.

Also announced overnight, Lil Wayne has joined the 17 artist owners of the service. The Grammy-winning rapper revealed he had released his new track Glory, exclusively on Tidal and changed his Facebook profile and cover pictures to teal blue. Wayne, who is already a shareholder in the company, has also offered members the opportunity to attend an upcoming soon-to-be-announced TIDAL X performance.

Among other new features to make it more user- and artist-friendly –  generally seen as a move before Apple’s streaming service launches on Tuesday –  is a beta desktop player.

Previously mobile-only, it enables members to more easily access Tidal’s full catalogue and lets them enjoy gapless play, support for media keys and sound output management.  It also detects and supports audio sources including Mac Airplay and Digital Audio Converters (DAC).

Tidal faces criticism that the desktop app misses important features as the ability to store music for offline playback. But it says that is coming soon.

Its mobile platform is now updated the design and functionality to feature improved search functionality, updated menu and icons, including a prominent offline mode button and new personalisation options. These updates are a part of a series of platform improvements designed to make it easier to discover and consume music, the company said.

There’ll also be a 50% student discount for those with a valid .edu email address on the service’s $9.99 and $19,99 tiers.

Tidal is currently available in 44 countries, including Australia, offering 30 million songs and 75,000 videos. After its recent relaunch under Jay Z and his superstar friends, it has virtually doubled its user base. It now has 900,000 paid users, and 200,000 Hi-Fi subscribers that pay $20 a month.