Update 8/2/23: T-Mobile will replace the missing Tidal benefit with Pandora Premium.
Way back in 2017, Sprint made a big investment buying a 33% stake in Tidal, a streaming music service. Their goal was to then bring the service to their subscriber base at the time of 45 million, and compete with Apple Music and Spotify. This plan came to fruition, and in 2018 Sprint plans began offering the service as a benefit of the “Unlimited Plus” plan. Later that year, Sprint offered Unlimited Premium which also included Tidal, with other benefits like increased high speed hotspot and Amazon Prime.
With the Sprint and T-Mobile merger in April 2020, T-Mobile acquired the 33% stake in Tidal along with other assets. They didn’t hang on long though, and Jay-Z purchased it from them in 2021. Tidal has still remained on select plans as customers converted from the Sprint biller to the T-Mobile biller. However, T-Mobile has decided it is time to fully move on.
T-Mobile Set To Remove Tidal Streaming Service
In an exclusive screenshot obtained by The Mobile Report, T-Mobile will begin the process to sunset the Tidal service as a plan benefit. It will begin August 1st 2023 with communication to customers on plans including it. Tidal is to not be offered even if customers move to a formerly eligible as of August 1st. The official end of Tidal for T-Mobile plans is set for September 1st, 2023. Hulu is clearly stated in the document as still being offered and available, so there is still a bit of Sprint hanging on in eligible plans.
T-Mobile does make mention of a “new benefit coming soon”, implying that Tidal will be replaced by a suitable alternative, though it’s unclear what that could be. Customers on Tidal-eligible plans will begin receiving communication as early as August 2nd about this “new benefit”. Is a partnership with a new streaming service on the horizon? Customers will be reminded one more time August 31st about the change until the cutoff a day later.
T-Mobile already reassured customers that Netflix “On Us” will not change despite Netflix adjusting plan offerings, a great move. It is great to see T-Mobile making an effort to not let the value simply disappear, but be replaced. Let us know what you think T-Mobile has up their sleeve in the comments below.
