Square Inc. is reportedly in talks to purchase TIDAL from JAY-Z as part of an effort to diversify, according to Bloomberg.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who runs the digital-payment company, discussed a possible deal with the Reasonable Doubt emcee, who acquired the streaming giant for $56 million in 2015. Both men were recently spotted over the summer vacationing on a yacht in the Hamptons alongside JAY’s wife, Beyoncé. Last month, they were seen together again hanging out on the beach in Hawaii with actor Sean Penn.
According to the outlet, TIDAL has had a difficult time keeping up with its larger rivals, such as Spotify and Apple Music.
Acquiring TIDAL could give Square a chance to broaden its business model, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives. “Square already had customer trust and there’s a cross-sale opportunity when you look at streaming,” Ives told The Post. “The company has really become an e-finance gargantuan over the last few years. This is Dorsey just further expanding their mode, potentially into music streaming.”
The last time the streaming platform reported their subscriber numbers was in 2016 when they said that they had three million paying customers. TIDAL is currently available in more than 53 countries and offers listeners more than 250,000 videos and 60 million songs.
TIDAL varies from other streaming services because it is artist-owned. The artist-owners include Beyoncé, Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Usher, Rihanna, Lil Wayne, Alicia Keys, Arcade Fire (Win Butler and Regine Chassagne), Calvin Harris, Claudia Leitte, T.I., Coldplay, Daft Punk, Deadmau5, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole, Madonna, Damian Marley and Indochine.
Listeners can choose between two subscriptions tiers: premium for $9.99 per month and HiFi for for $19.99 per month. You can create playlists and download songs to your mobile device for an offline listening experience. Discounted pricing for students, families and military service members are available.
Bloomberg has reached out to both Square and TIDAL for comment. Dorsey’s company declined to comment and JAY’s service has not issued a response.
