Apple's Beats brand in April unveiled the Powerbeats Pro, a redesigned wire-free version of its popular fitness-oriented Powerbeats earbuds.
Apple in Talks to Acquire Jay Z's Streaming Music Service Tidal
Apple is in talks to acquire rapper Jay Z's streaming music service Tidal, reports The Wall Street Journal, citing "people familiar with the matter." The talks are said to be exploratory and "may not result in a deal," but Apple is considering the purchase to bolster its Apple Music service.
A Tidal spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Tidal executives had not held talks with Apple, and the terms of the deal are unknown.
Tidal, which launched in 2014 and was acquired by Jay Z in January of 2015 before a March 2015 re-launch, is a subscription-based music service that advertises high-quality lossless audio and high-definition music videos. Tidal offers two tiers of service, a standard premium option for $9.99 per month and HiFi for $19.99 per month. Tidal has 4.2 million paying subscribers, and as of March, 45 percent of those subscribers paid extra for the hi-fidelity tier.
Positioned as one of Apple Music's major competitors, Tidal has clashed with Apple in the past. In February, Apple was in talks to exclusively debut Kanye West's album "The Life of Pablo," but West pulled out of talks and opted to debut his album on Tidal.
Tidal's strong connection to artists like Kanye West, Beyonce, and Madonna is one of the reasons Apple is mulling an acquisition. Apple has made a major push into both exclusive and original content with Apple Music, luring artists like Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Eminem, and more into offering up Apple Music exclusives.
Today is the one-year anniversary of Apple Music, which first debuted in 110 countries on June 30, 2015. As of June 2016, Apple Music has more than 15 million paying subscribers.
A Tidal spokesman told The Wall Street Journal that Tidal executives had not held talks with Apple, and the terms of the deal are unknown.
Tidal, which launched in 2014 and was acquired by Jay Z in January of 2015 before a March 2015 re-launch, is a subscription-based music service that advertises high-quality lossless audio and high-definition music videos. Tidal offers two tiers of service, a standard premium option for $9.99 per month and HiFi for $19.99 per month. Tidal has 4.2 million paying subscribers, and as of March, 45 percent of those subscribers paid extra for the hi-fidelity tier.
Positioned as one of Apple Music's major competitors, Tidal has clashed with Apple in the past. In February, Apple was in talks to exclusively debut Kanye West's album "The Life of Pablo," but West pulled out of talks and opted to debut his album on Tidal.
Tidal's strong connection to artists like Kanye West, Beyonce, and Madonna is one of the reasons Apple is mulling an acquisition. Apple has made a major push into both exclusive and original content with Apple Music, luring artists like Taylor Swift, the Weeknd, Eminem, and more into offering up Apple Music exclusives.
Today is the one-year anniversary of Apple Music, which first debuted in 110 countries on June 30, 2015. As of June 2016, Apple Music has more than 15 million paying subscribers.
Tag: Tidal
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39 months ago
If they do this it'll remove all doubt in my mind that Eddy Cue needs to be fired.
39 months ago
Um...
Jim Dalrymple says:
Jim Dalrymple says:
Apple doesn’t need more celebrities, it needs to fix what it already has.
39 months ago
What's the point of acquiring one more irrelevant company? They are the Beats headphones of streaming.
39 months ago
Tim: We need to make Apple Music a success!
Eddy: People are going to Tidal for exclusives and Spotify because it doesn't suck.
Tim: Hmm. We can just buy Tidal.
Eddy: What about Spotify?
Tim: Too expensive. Just pull their App from the Store.
Legal: Um
Eddy: People are going to Tidal for exclusives and Spotify because it doesn't suck.
Tim: Hmm. We can just buy Tidal.
Eddy: What about Spotify?
Tim: Too expensive. Just pull their App from the Store.
Legal: Um
39 months ago
Another bad purchase....Tidal is barely a blip in the streaming world.
It's not about Tidal's potential, it's about eliminating competition.
39 months ago
Wow! Apple executives must really love RAP music! They are investing massive amount of money in anything related to this music style.
It's kind of interesting to think that many of these artists have written so much homophobic or sexist stuff.
Before you comment on my post, let me say I don't dislike RAP music or the RAP culture. It's just not favorite.
It's kind of interesting to think that many of these artists have written so much homophobic or sexist stuff.
Before you comment on my post, let me say I don't dislike RAP music or the RAP culture. It's just not favorite.
39 months ago
Remember when Jay-Z said Apple launched a smear campaign against him? And when 'Life of Pablo' was "never coming to Apple"? Just funny things I'm remembering
39 months ago
It's not about Tidal's potential, it's about eliminating competition.
Are you serious? Tidal isn't competition for anyone. The only service Apple needs to worry about is Spotify. And Apple Music was such an abortion at launch that I cancelled my subscription and switched to Spotify.
39 months ago
What's the point of acquiring one more irrelevant company? They are the Beats headphones of streaming.
The point is to:(a) acquire an immediate increase of 4.2M paying subscribers
(b) decrease the competitive landscape
(c) strengthen ties with recording artists.
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