TIDAL Cuts More Staff: ‘We Are Going to Be Smaller, Focus on Fewer Things’
The streaming service previously laid off 10% of staff in December 2023.
TIDAL plans to lay off additional employees, its second round of cuts in less than a year.
“We have made some internal changes to our TIDAL team to focus on serving artists in the most meaningful way,” a TIDAL spokesperson told Billboard in a statement. “This involved the elimination of some roles across our business and design teams. We are going to be smaller, focus on fewer things, and move with a relentless approach to product development.”
In a memo to staff obtained by Fortune, Block CEO Jack Dorsey wrote that he wants to the company to function “like a startup again.”
“We’re going to part ways with a number of folks on our team,” Dorsey continued. “We’re going to lead with engineering and design, and remove the product management and product marketing functions entirely. We’re reducing the size of our design team and foundational roles supporting TIDAL, and we will consider reducing engineering over the next few weeks as we have more clarity around leadership going forward.”
These layoffs follow a 10% staff cut that the company made in December, 2023. “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,” a company spokesperson said in a statement last year. “We do not take these decisions lightly, and we are sincerely grateful for the contributions of our impacted teammates.”
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Similar cuts have been a common sight across the music and tech industries in the last 24 months, hitting Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Spotify, Downtown Music, BMG, SoundCloud, and more.
“What you do see, in general, is the music industry is maturing,” Downtown Music president Peter van Rijn told Billboard in January. “The digital growth is still there, but it’s slowing down.”
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