THE MTN ’TIDAL' WAVE
Emerging markets are the next frontier for growth in music streaming. Although developed markets such as the US, UK, EU and Australia are…
Emerging markets are the next frontier for growth in music streaming. Although developed markets such as the US, UK, EU and Australia are currently the largest source of subscribers and revenue for the major digital music service providers, growth is flattening in these territories due to near total market penetration and rising content licensing costs.
Thus, the major (US based) service providers have begun to turn their attention to developing markets, focusing first on Latin America (including Brazil), then Asia, and now Africa. It is in this context that Tidal’s recent deal with MTN in Uganda can be better understood.
WHO BENEFITS MORE?
On the face of it, the deal is more beneficial to Tidal than MTN. Tidal, a relatively new streaming service, is struggling with subscriber growth (currently estimated at around 3 million subscribers) and would greatly benefit from securing a significant share of the continent’s estimated 30 million music subscribers (as well an addressable market of o…