Tidal has picked up Cloud9TV’s web series, Money & Violence. After the season 1 ended with failed crowdfunding efforts, Jay Z’s budding music streaming service stepped in to deliver fans with more episodes. The Flatbush Brooklyn-based series has attracted nearly a million viewers each episode of the first season. Look out for MAV Season 2 Tidal premiere Feb. 9.
Catch the entire first season on YouTube if you’re new to the show.
It’s going to be _! Money & Violence Season 2 premieres 2/9 at 8pm ET on TIDAL. Season 1 available now! pic.twitter.com/TAsaUDCkvv
— TIDAL (@TIDALHiFi) February 1, 2016
Season 2 will have 12 episodes, all of which will be available Feb. 9 on Tidal. After one week, all of the episodes will stream on YouTube for free.
MAV ’s creator Moise Verneau started the Cloud9TV YouTube channel with just a camera. Speaking with Digital Trends , he said he didn’t want MAV to be “another hood project.” Some fans compare the series to The Wire, but Verneau says in HBO’s Baltimore-based series the characters are fighting for power. “ Whereas with Money and Violence the characters are just fighting for survival. If these guys didn’t have to do this they wouldn’t.”
Tidal, like Spotify, Netflix, Hulu and all streaming services, is pushing to develop exclusive and original content to attract new subscribers. After Rihanna’s new album, Anti, was released only on Tidal, the app moved up the ranks in iTunes from 147 to 13. Rihanna’s album will be available to purchase from iTunes eventually, but Tidal does own all the streaming rights so it’s unlikely Anti will be available on Spotify.
Spotify has launched a video content, but it's too early to tell if their multimedia strategy will keep them at #1 with rising competition from Apple Music, YouTube Red and Tidal.
Is Money & Violence the right move for Tidal? Sound off in the comments!
