Barclays Center Theater Now Named 'Tidal Theater'

Tidal, the high-def music-streaming service launched by Brooklyn native Jay-Z pretty much exactly one year ago, just made Barclays Center in Fort Greene/Prospect Heights into its unofficial headquarters.

Barclays reps announced on Monday that the stadium’s intimate, 4,000- to 6,000-seat Cushman & Wakefield Theater will now be named Tidal Theater.

For now, Barclays is not disclosing the exact terms of the deal. (Aka, how much Tidal is paying to set up shop within Brooklyn’s biggest music venue.)

However, we do know that Tidal officials will now be wielding curating power over ”a minimum of eight events annually in the TIDAL Theater with emerging and established artists,” according to a Barclays press release.

Cushman & Wakefield Theater isn’t so much its own structure as a configuration within the main Barclays space, created by rearranging curtains and barricades and lights and stuff. And now that it’s called Tidal Theater, the space will be re-imagined into a new, ”state-of-the-art” configuration, according to Barclays.

The naming deal comes on the heels of the massive Tidal X: 1020 anniversary concert on Oct. 20 that brought together superstars (and Tidal co-owners) like Jay-Z, Nicki Minaj and Beyonce on the Barclays stage.

“Even though [Tidal X] wasn’t in the [Tidal] theater, we obviously had a big week,” Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark told Billboard. “I don’t speak for [Tidal], but I think those kind of collaborative efforts really drive home what that brand means, and certainly the impact it has. I would venture to say, based on the success here, they’re probably going to do more events.”

Although Tidal’s subscriber base hit one million users last month, speculation abounds over the viability of the business overall.

But the 1020 concert was huge: It reportedly raised $1.5 million for charity and attracted 3.3 million live-streamers from nearly 200 countries over the course of the night. As has been the case for many players in the music industry, the live-show business may end up being Jay-Z’s answer.