Jay Z stays making business moves. For past several months, there have been rumors of several business houses trying to buy a stake in his streaming service TIDAL. There has also been talk in the industry that the subscriber numbers on TIDAL have been not as rosy as projected to the public.
Today, it has been announced that Phone major Sprint has bought 33% stake in the company which is also co-owned by several other artists like Beyoncé, Calvin Harris, Coldplay, Daft Punk, Damian Marley, Deadmau5, Indochine, Jack White, Jason Aldean, J. Cole, Kanye West, Lil Wayne, Madonna, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, T.I. and Usher.
With this new partnership, Sprint’s customers will have access to exclusive content not available to other Tidal users. Sprint’s CEO, Marcelo Claure, will be joining Tidal’s board of directors immediately.
Check out the full press release below which contains statements from Jay Z as well as Marcelo Claure.
Full Press Release:
NEW YORK & OVERLAND PARK, Kan.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Global music and entertainment platform TIDAL and Sprint (NYSE:S) announced today an unprecedented partnership that will soon give Sprint’s 45 million retail customers unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else.
TIDAL and its artists will make exclusive content that will only be available to current and new Sprint customers.
As part of the partnership, Sprint will acquire 33 percent of TIDAL. JAY Z and the artist-owners will continue to run TIDAL’s artist-centric service as it pioneers and grows the direct relationship between artists and fans. The formidable pairing of Sprint and TIDAL will grow customers on both platforms by offering exclusive access for customers who subscribe to TIDAL. Sprint’s chief executive officer, Marcelo Claure, will also join TIDAL’s Board of Directors.
“Sprint shares our view of revolutionizing the creative industry to allow artists to connect directly with their fans and reach their fullest, shared potential,” said JAY Z. “Marcelo understood our goal right away and together we are excited to bring Sprint’s 45 million customers an unmatched entertainment experience.”
TIDAL is a global, experiential, entertainment platform built for fans, directly from artists around the world. Members of TIDAL enjoy unmatched exclusively curated content that directly connects artists with their fans in multiple ways. TIDAL is available in more than 52 countries, with a more than 42.5 million song catalog and 140,000 high quality videos.
The innovative TIDAL platform, combined with Sprint’s award-winning reliable network and best value for unlimited data, talk and text, will deliver a first-of-its-kind experience for music fans.
“Jay saw not only a business need, but a cultural one, and put his heart and grit into building TIDAL into a world-class music streaming platform that is unrivaled in quality and content,” said Claure. “The passion and dedication that these artist-owners bring to fans will enable Sprint to offer new and existing customers access to exclusive content and entertainment experiences in a way no other service can.”
More news on exclusive offers and upcoming promotions from Sprint and TIDAL will be unveiled soon.
Sprint’s dedication to its customers and to artists is at the heart of the partnership. Part of that effort will include the establishment of a dedicated marketing fund specifically for artists. The fund will allow artists the flexibility to create and share their work with and for their fans.
The Sprint-TIDAL partnership comes on the heels of TIDAL’s recent announcement revealing the availability of “Master” quality recordings. A wide variety of content from labels and artists, including Warner Music Group’s world-renowned music catalogue, is now available in Master audio across all of TIDAL’s available markets worldwide.