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Tidal's top executive left the company months ago

Tidal's top executive left the company months ago

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Vania Schlogel is the second major executive to resign from Tidal in the last six months

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In a major loss for the streaming service, Tidal executive Vania Schlogel resigned from the company this past summer, according to The New York Times. Schlogel was part of the exploratory group assembled by Jay Z and his company Roc Nation last year before the $56 million purchase of the Norwegian company, and had been the public face of Tidal since its relaunch in March. Although Schlogel's title was chief investment officer, she exerted much more influence over the company — especially since there hasn't been a permanent CEO since April.

"There has been less of a need from a financial investment standpoint," a Tidal spokesperson told the The New York Times about Schlogel’s departure. Despite the spin, this is the second major executive to step down from Tidal in the last six months, after interim CEO Peter Tonstad — who replaced fired CEO Andy Chen — resigned in June. The company has not announced an interim or permanent CEO to replace Tonstad.

Schlogel was one of the key players helping to shape the direction of Tidal

After Tidal’s bombastic and highly criticized relaunch, Schlogel led the press tour to rebrand Tidal as a company with a legitimate business plan and strategy, and not a collection of wealthy artists complaining about not being paid enough, as was the widely held perception after the relaunch. Schlogel, a former investment banker with Goldman Sachs and principal with the private equity firm KKR, spent that press tour doing what a stage full of multi-platinum artists couldn’t — explaining why anyone should consider Tidal over Spotify or Apple Music.

While I was profiling the company this past summer, it was clear that Schlogel was one of the key players helping to shape the direction of Tidal. With the loss of Schlogel, another bungled event, the rapid growth of Apple Music, and the launch of YouTube Music, things aren't looking up for Tidal.

We've reached out to Tidal for comment.