After months of speculation, Square Inc. (the company founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey) is acquiring a majority stake in TIDAL (led by JAY Z). The high-fidelity streaming service is being partially bought for $297 million in cash and stock, though exact number of how much is at stake remains to be seen.
TIDAL will continue to operate independently from Square’s other ventures.
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?!
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
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.
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
Square started 12 years ago by giving small sellers a simple tool in order to participate more fully in the economy and grow. We did the same for individuals with Cash App, which now enables a comprehensive set of financial services for folks who weren’t able to access it before.
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
TIDAL started with the idea of honoring 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.
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
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.
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
Square created ecosystems of tools for sellers & individuals, and we’ll do the same for artists. We’ll work on entirely new listening experiences to bring fans closer together, simple integrations for merch sales, modern collaboration tools, and new complementary revenue streams.
— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021
The move continues putting in money in Hov’s pocket, considering he just sold Ace of Spades for millions of dollars last month.
Like he said before, he’s “not a business man, he’s a business — man.” He’s handling his business, damn.
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