Apple is reportedly in discussions with Tidal to purchase the embattled streaming music provider according to people familiar with the matter as reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Tidal has forged solid relationships with many of today’s most popular artists including Kanye West and Madonna, a fact that Apple is well aware of. Bringing on Tidal would, by proxy, put Apple in a much better position with such artists, thus boosting its own streaming music service while simultaneously narrowing the field of competition.
If Apple were to buy Tidal, it would bring together two of the most legendary names in hip-hop – Dr. Dre and Jay Z – under the same roof.
Apple may not be the only company on Tidal’s radar. According to one person, Tidal has held exploratory talks with other potential partners including Rhapsody which said in June that it will soon be changing its name to Napster.
Apple Music launched on June 30, 2015, as part of iOS 8.4. The platform has amassed 15 million paying subscribers since that time, each paying a minimum of $9.99 a month (or $4.99 for qualifying students). Apple said last month that it was working on a redesign that will launch this fall, likely with iOS 10.
Rapper Jay Z purchased Tidal for $56 million in 2015. As I mentioned, the company has strong ties with many of its artists but has run into numerous hurdles. In March, the company fired its CFO, Chris Hart, and COO, Nils Juell before filing a lawsuit against its former owners alleging that subscription numbers were exaggerated.
Image courtesy Kevin Mazur, Roc Nation
https://www.techspot.com/news/65420-apple-reportedly-talks-purchase-tidal.html
