Tidal drops its cut of music and merch sales to 0%

Why it matters

Tidal is subsidizing artist commerce to attract independent releases, while parent company Block keeps Square at the center of every new transaction.

Tidal said in a post on X on August 31st that it has stopped taking a platform fee from music and merchandise sold directly to fans, cutting its share from 10% to 0% as it tries to build a commerce business around independent artists.

https://x.com/TIDAL/status/2094455872873476451

The company is removing its cut from paid releases sold through Tidal Upload, its self-service system for publishing original audio, as well as merchandise sold through stores that remain in beta. Upload is free to use, Tidal said.

Artists will still receive less than the gross sale price after Square's payment processing fees and applicable taxes. Tidal's support page for direct-to-fan sales, updated on August 31st, says Square deducts its processing charges before making the remaining funds available for payout.

That distinction narrows Tidal's claim that its share "will all go to the artist." Tidal is giving up its platform fee, while the payment layer continues to collect transaction fees.

Tidal trades marketplace revenue for artist adoption

The offer is aimed at musicians who own their recordings and compositions and can sell them without routing a release through a conventional distributor. Artists can mark an uploaded track or album as paid, set a price and give buyers both streaming access inside Tidal and a permanent download.

Sales are currently limited to artists based in the United States. Buyers can purchase eligible music in the US, Canada, the UK, Switzerland and the European Economic Area. Sellers must complete Square's account setup and identity checks before receiving payouts.

Tidal Upload itself is available to adults in those markets and supports free, paid and unlisted releases. It does not pay streaming royalties. For musicians using Upload, direct purchases and separate fan contributions are the available routes to revenue inside the product.

The zero-fee policy gives Tidal a clear pricing advantage over Bandcamp, the established direct-sales marketplace for independent music. Bandcamp charges 15% on digital sales, falling to 10% after an artist reaches $5,000 in sales, and takes 10% on physical goods. Payment processing fees are separate.

Tidal has yet to establish Bandcamp's depth as a marketplace, including its audience of collectors and infrastructure for selling physical releases. Waiving its fee lowers the cost of asking artists to list music and merchandise on another storefront.

Square remains inside every new sale

The fee cut also advances the original logic behind Block's acquisition of Tidal. Square, which later renamed its parent company Block, agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal in 2021. The stated plan was to connect artists with commerce and financial tools already built for other sellers.

New direct-sales accounts now run through Square. Artists who configured older releases through Stripe can continue using those accounts, but content placed on sale after June 4th, 2026 requires Square onboarding. Tidal can therefore waive its marketplace take while placing its parent's payment system underneath the transaction.

That arrangement gives Block another entry point for acquiring Square sellers. Independent musicians operate small businesses around downloads, apparel, physical releases, tickets and live performances, making music a natural vertical for Square's broader merchant products.

Block told shareholders in its third-quarter 2024 letter that it was scaling back investment in Tidal. Folding artist commerce into Square lets Tidal offer more favorable marketplace economics without maintaining a separate payment stack.

The published terms still show the old 10% fee

Tidal's announcement and updated support documentation say the platform fee is now zero. Its Upload Marketplace terms, effective June 4th and still published on August 31st, continued to state that Tidal collects 10% of each paid Upload.

The same terms set paid releases between $0.99 and $50 and place responsibility for rights clearance, royalty splits, taxes and buyer disputes on the seller. Artists must control the recording, composition, lyrics, samples, artwork and other rights required to sell a release. Tidal also bars wholly AI-generated Upload recordings from direct-to-fan monetization under its current policy.

The conflicting fee language matters because sellers must accept the marketplace terms during setup. Tidal's public announcement establishes the new commercial offer, and its support page confirms the change, while the contract presented to artists still describes the charge Tidal says it has eliminated.