Rdio and Tidal announce territorial expansion

High-quality music streaming service Tidal - which launched in the UK, US and Canada n the second half of 2014 - has announced an expansion to the Netherlands, Finland, Ireland, Belgium and Luxembourg. 

Tidal’s parent company - WiMP - is using the Tidal brand to move into territories where it sees a clear demand for a high-quality service but where it doesn’t necessarily think that yet another standard streaming service could gain momentum. 

Rdio on the other hand was already present in 61 territories and has announced the addition of a further 24, bringing the total to 85. 

The expansion focuses on the Central American, Caribbean and the Asia Pacific markets. 

Key to this expansion is Rdio’s partnership with Caribbean and Central American telecoms group Digicel, since the carriers’ customers will be able to stream up to 30 minutes’ worth of music from Rdio without incurring any data charges. 

Carrier partnerships are proving to be instrumental both in advanced economies, where competition between services makes it hard for a streaming to stand out, and in emerging ones where access to data is not ubiquitous and where payment options are also limited. 

Rdio is now live in the following territories: Anguilla, Antigua & Barbuda, Aruba, Barbados, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, St Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent & the Grenadines, Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad & Tobago, Turks & Caicos and Vanuatu. In addition to the new markets where Rdio is launching, Rdio’s exclusive partnership with Digicel is effective in French Guiana, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Martinique, Bonaire, El Salvador and Panama.

 

(Andrea Leonelli)