Jack Dorsey’s Square buys $300m stake in Jay-Z’s streaming firm Tidal
Mobile payments firm Square has agreed to buy a majority stake in Tidal, the streaming service owned by rapper and producer Jay-Z, for $297m (£212m).
Square, which was co-founded by Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, said it will pay a mix of cash and stock for the stake, while Jay-Z will join its board of directors.
“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,” Dorsey said on Twitter.
Square did not disclose the percentage of its ownership, but said Tidal would continue to operate independently and the existing artists stakeholders will be the remaining shareholders.
The acquisition marks a major move by the financial services firm into music streaming as it looks to muscle in on the dominant platforms Spotify and Apple Music.
Square has been one of the major winners of the pandemic, with its share price rising almost fourfold in the last year as more businesses turned to digital payments.
Tidal, which was launched in 2014, is backed by major artists including Kanye West, Beyoncé, Madonna, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj, and is available in more than 56 countries.
Jay-Z, whose real name is Shawn Carter, bought Tidal for roughly $56m in 2015.
“Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey,” Carter said in a statement. “Jack and I have had many discussions about Tidal’s endless possibilities that have made me even more inspired about its future.”
It comes just a week after Jay-Z sold a 50 per cent stake in his Armand de Brignac champagne brand to French luxury conglomerate LVMH.