

That led to a probe that was approved by the Norwegian Supreme Court Appeals Committee last June. Back in 2018, Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv reported that the company was faking the numbers for several of its biggest albums. Tidal’s subscriber numbers are a mystery, leading many to believe that it’s trailing behind Spotify and Apple Music. (Amazon has an equivalent service called Amazon Music HD, though.) It’s not clear if the occasional exclusive and higher-quality streaming is enough, though. Users can pay for a HiFi plan which unlocks streaming options - HiFi and Masters (2304-9216 Kbps) - that are higher quality than anything offered by Apple and Spotify. too, and its sister brand, WiMP, has a head start in Scandinavia and elsewhere in Europe.Ģ015 is shaping up to be an interesting year in the music-streaming realm for sure.Tidal still has some advantages. While Beats is only available in the U.S. It’s also worth noting that this deal isn’t just about the U.S. Indeed, what’s the point of having good hardware if the quality of the sound lets you down? Particularly when you consider millions are willing to dig deep to buy top-notch speakers and headphones. In an interview with VentureBeat back in November, Tidal CEO Andy Chen said there are enough people willing to spend a little bit more for better sound. It’s around four times higher than most of its direct competitors, so it will be interesting to see whether Jay Z can “sex up” the brand in the right demographics and tempt people to pay around double what Spotify and Beats charge. Tidal streams at around CD-quality - 44.1 kHz / 16-bit FLAC and ALAC music files at 1411 kbps. Dre made a monumental success of his premium Beats headphones brand, a major celebrity such as Jay Z aligning himself with a premium music-streaming service might just work. But it’s also an incredibly competitive space, with the likes of Spotify, Rdio, and Beats also offering their wares. It’s an interesting move for sure, one that gives Jay Z direct entry into the on-demand U.S. Dre, who cofounded the now Apple-owned Beats Electronics, which also offers the Beats Music streaming service in the U.S. So in effect, this is Jay Z making a big play for the music-streaming market and aligning himself with fellow rapper Dr. The main stipulation from Panther is that, whatever the outcome of any bartering or negotiations, Jay Z wants to own at least 90 percent of the company. While the deal is yet to be signed and sealed, it looks certain to be given the go-ahead, with the acceptance period running between February 19 and March 11. The offer tabled by “Panther” values each Aspiro share at SEK 1.05 ($0.13), and the total value of the deal at SEK 464 million ($56 million).Īspiro says it first received a notice of interest from SCE on December 3, and on December 13 Aspiro and SCE entered into an agreement that prevented Aspiro from actively soliciting offers from other potential buyers. You’ll note that there’s no mention of Jay Z in there, but that’s because Jay Z’s real name is Shawn Carter.Īccording to the release, Aspiro’s board of directors has “unanimously recommended” that all Aspiro shareholders accept the offer. The acquisition bid was made under the “Project Panther Bidco Ltd” moniker, according to the press release, which is “indirectly” owned by S. Tidal launched in just the two markets last year, with a focus on high-quality streams - a factor it hopes will lead people to pay $20/month for the service as opposed to the usual $10/month you’ve come to expect from the likes of Rdio or Deezer.
