TIDAL wants to make sure they get it right. The streaming service has a program called “TIDAL Rising,” and this year it focused solely on artists in Atlanta for the first time in the program’s history.
The company’s talent and artist relations senior vice president, Jason Kpana, detailed to rolling out the process of what led to the latest batch of artists, including SwaVay and Sakura.
What should people expect when checking out the “TIDAL Rising: Georgia” series?
“TIDAL Rising” is a program that’s been a part of the platform since day one, [which goes] back [to] 2015, when the company was first purchased by artists. This is a continuation of that, we’ve always tried to figure out – a way to support artists through various avenues. One of the most notable things is, of course, playlist features, and having the artists featured prominently within the app. I’m talking about emerging artists. TIDAL Rising is all about emerging artists, but with this, the “Rising GA” series really gives us an opportunity to bring that visual aspect to that support as well.
Myself, in conjunction with the various teams here at TIDAL, our content team, artist relations team, shout-out to Nick Coyne, the PR team … our social team and marketing team, we came together to shine a spotlight on these four artists from Georgia, have them tell their stories and give them an opportunity to continue to build their fan base. Some are, like you mentioned … at different stages than others, but what we try to do is step in and fill in the blanks and bring that level of support that I believe only TIDAL can do.
What do you look for in these artists?
I think it’s one of those things where it’s like, if we believe that we can be of assistance, we all look at artists through different lenses. I think when it comes to us, and the teams that come together to make these things happen, it’s really like, is there a space for TIDAL to help here? Is this a story that’s already on its way where there’s not much for us to add to it? When we look at an artist and their trajectory, is this something we feel can be of service to artists … ? Because that’s our main thing is being of service to the artist community as a whole and economic empowerment for the artists’ community. We’re working collectively with various departments to build out tools to help artists in that effort. And when it comes to telling these stories, it’s really about whether [there is] a space for TIDAL to really be of some support here.
Who is an artist you helped early on in their career?
21 Savage. I’m not sure how many people would be aware of the work we were doing back in 2016.
