Jay-Z Sells Majority Share Of His Music Streaming Platform Tidal To Jack Dorsey’s Square!
Jay-Z Sells Majority Share Of His Music Streaming Platform Tidal To Jack Dorsey’s Square! Square is buying a majority stake in Tidal, Jay-Z’s music streaming platform, for nearly $300 million. Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Square and the CEO of Twitter, announced the deal in a tweet that read, “Square is acquiring a majority ownership stake in TIDAL through a new joint venture, with the original artists becoming the second largest group of shareholders, and JAY-Z joining the Square board. Why would a music streaming company and a financial services company join forces? It comes down to a simple idea: finding new ways for artists to support their work. New ideas are found at the intersections, and we believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy. Making the economy work for artists is similar to what Square has done for sellers.”
Jay-Z bought Tidal in 2015 for $56 million and proceeded to debut exclusive releases on the platform, such as Beyonce’s “Lemonade” album in 2016. The streaming platform has struggled to keep up with players like Spotify, Insider’s Kate Canales reported. Square does not expect TIDAL’s financial results to have a material impact on Square’s consolidated revenue or gross profit in 2021, the company said in a press release.
“TIDAL started with the idea of honouring artists by being artist-owned and led, focused on an uncompromised experience of the art. It’s refreshing and right. The vision only grows stronger as it’s matched with more powerful tools for artists, inclusive of new ways of getting paid. Given what Square has been able to do for sellers of all sizes and individuals through Cash App, we believe we can now work for artists to see the same success for them, and us. We’re going to start small and focus on the most critical needs of artists and growing their fanbases.” Dorsey added.
Square, Inc. is an American financial services, merchant services aggregator, and mobile payment company based in San Francisco, California. The company markets software and hardware payments products and has expanded into small business services. The company was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and launched its first app and service in 2010. It has been traded as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange since November 2015.
Jay-Z also tweeted to express himself about Tidal and its vision with the deal, the tweet read, “I said from the beginning that TIDAL was about more than just streaming music, and six years later, it has remained a platform that supports artists at every point in their careers. Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey. Jack is one of the greatest minds of our times, and our many discussions about TIDAL’s endless possibilities have made me even more inspired about its future. This shared vision makes me even more excited to join the Square board. This partnership will be a game-changer for many. I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!”
This deal was announced just after Jay-Z had sold a 50% stake of his champagne brand Ace of Spades to luxury brand LVMH. Jay-Z built these businesses to have significant value and impact and then he sold them for more than what he paid for them, as a seasoned entrepreneur would.
