Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey-led Square Inc to buy majority stake in Jay Zs music platform Tidal

E-payment company Square said on Thursday that it was buying a
majority of the stakes from rapper Jay Z’s music platform Tidal at a value of
$297 million in cash and stock. The rapper had earlier bought Tidal in 2015
from European company Aspiro at a price slightly higher than $56 million, aiming
to give artists a greater extent on control over their work, AFP reported.

“The acquisition extends Square’s purpose of
economic empowerment to a new vertical: musicians,”, AFP quoted a statement
from the firm as saying.

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“It comes down to one simple idea: finding new
ways for artists to support their work. New ideas are found at intersections,
and we believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy”, Dorsey
was quoted as saying regarding the move.

Tidal’s ownership, however, is not made up to
solely Jay Z, as various other high-profile artists such as Maddona, Rihanna, as
well as pop icon and Jay Z’s wife Beyonce, have stakes.

Tidal, despite a promising start, soon began having
difficulties competing with larger music streaming services such as Spotify and
Apple Music.

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The current deal, as per AFP, will see Square get a
“significant majority ownership stake” alongside the already existing group of artists
as other shareholders.

Reportedly, Tidal would be operating independently
within Square as part of the deal, which would also see Jay Z joining the board
of Square.