Outside of its very rare album exclusives, we have not had much cause to write about Tidal as a marketing channel for acts. DSP-centric marketing activities are most often linked to market leaders Spotify and Apple Music, with Amazon increasingly the third choice followed by Deezer.

But rapper Meek Mill is using Tidal as part of his push around Championships, his fourth studio album, which is due at the end of November. It is all wrapped up in a wider sponsorship package that includes Puma and Foot Locker in the US and is an interesting mix of the real world and the digital one.

Fans will have to go to a Foot Locker store and buy an exclusive “collector’s book” that will cost them $3.50 and that comes with access to stream Championships on release as well as six months of access to Tidal as part of the deal. If they are feeling flusher in Foot Locker, buying any pair of Pumas at the same store will land them the same deal. Mill will also be interviewed about the album and more by Tidal’s Elliott Wilson for his CRWN series on 2nd December in New York.

It doesn’t stop at the six-month Tidal trial. There is a code inside the book to unlock other exclusive Meek Mill content on Tidal, including photos and playlists. And coming in the wake of the spat this summer between Travis Scott and Nicki Minaj over the bundle arms race around their albums (with the latter accusing the former of gaming the system to keep her off #1 in the US), Mill is also including a copy of his new album with any purchase of a branded T-shirt or hat.

There are a lot of moving parts here and, ultimately, the bundling option will have the most impact on the first-week chart placing on Championships. But it is interesting that Tidal, for certain acts at least, is still considered a key marketing partner. It clearly has a lot of catching up to do, but how this tie-up with Mill plays out will shape what Tidal will – or can – do next.