As Africa becomes the next hotspot for digital music to break out Jay Z’s streaming service TIDAL is coming to the untapped continent. 

TIDAL have announced a partnership with Ugandan telco MTN to offer their customers data-inclusive TIDAL memberships for a Premium music streaming experience packaged with their mobile plan. The partnership will take effect in Uganda but TIDAL say that they will be rolling out their offers further across Africa with MTN.

MTN customers can go for one, three, seven, and 30 day TIDAL memberships payable by the telco’s Mobile Money (MoMo) platform. Whichever plan customers choose, everyone who signs up will get a free 30-day trial so they can try out TIDAL’s expansive library of music for unlimited streaming.

TIDAL COO, Lior Tibon says: “Africa is a continent that has long been an inspiration for music heard around the world and TIDAL is excited to highlight the vibrant musicians on our platform. TIDAL is also thrilled to bring a new wave of digital music to Uganda as part of this collaboration.”

Bob Marley’s son and TIDAL artist-owner Damian Marley shared his thoughts on the service’s entry into Africa, saying: “I remember hearing stories about my father’s records being destroyed once they got to Africa. They didn’t want the people to hear the message in the music. What a beautiful day it is now when Africa will not only have access to my family’s music but to all music that exists.”

Senior vice president of artist and label relations at TIDAL, Jason Kpana added: “I’m really looking forward to connecting with Uganda’s musicians and helping to bring the TIDAL music streaming experience to fans across the country. We know MTN customers will love the diverse playlists, livestreams, videos and original content available on TIDAL.”

TIDAL and MTN Uganda have said they are planning to host a Collaboration Conference and concert called ‘The MTN TIDAL Experience’. MTN Uganda Chief Marketing Officer, Olivier Prentout, explained: “The Collaboration Conference will exclusively be attended by artists, music producers and promoters. The conference aims to bring artists together to learn about the evolution of the music industry across the globe and how to expand locally along with the help of TIDAL.

“Following the conference, ‘The MTN TIDAL Experience’, featuring dancehall artist Kranium, will be for a select group of fans. Other confirmed performers include Nigeria’s DJ Spinall, our very own Beenie Gunter and local DJs are set to host the experience which will be held at the MTN Headquarters”.

He added: “At MTN we believe that everyone deserves the benefits of a modern, connected life. This partnership with TIDAL further demonstrates our strategic vision to lead the delivery of a bold, new digital world to our customers by making music more available on their smartphones.

“One product innovation MTN will add to the TIDAL subscriptions is the inclusion of data. MTN subscribers will be given the choice between daily, weekly and monthly packages payable only via Mobile Money (MoMo).”