Apple in Talks to Acquire Tidal
Jay Z could be readying himself for another major business deal, if rumors are true. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple Inc. is in talks to purchase Jay Z’s music streaming service, Tidal.
Apple’s current streaming service, Apple Music, has been dominating the streaming world but has faced some fierce competition from Tidal due to Jay-Z’s famous musician friends, including Kanye West and, of course, Beyonce. If the deal is completed, Apple would inherit the slew of artists who are exclusively on Tidal.
Jay Z bought the streaming service from Swedish company Aspiro for $56 million. He has since given 19 famous artists and bands small stakes in Tidal and promised each millions of dollars worth of marketing, according to people familiar with the matter.
While it may be one of the top streaming services at the moment, Tidal’s rise to the top hasn’t come without a few hiccups. The company has experienced management turmoil, blowing through three chief executives in less than a year before hiring the former chief business officer at SoundCloud, in January.
While an Apple Music and Tidal merger would be huge for the music world, there might be areas of friction. Tidal is known to give their artists certain freedoms that other services don’t allow, such as tinkering with their music after releasing it. Kanye West has used that perk to change tracks on his latest album, The Life of Pablo.
This also wouldn’t be Apple’s first time joining forces with a rapper. Back in 2014, the tech giant purchased Dr Dre’s Beats LLC for a cool $3 billion.
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