Financial technology company Square, Inc. said Thursday that it has reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership of Tidal, the music streaming service partly owned by Jay-Z.
Under the deal, Square will pay $297 million in cash and stock for Tidal, Jay-Z will be named to Square's board of directors, and he and other artists who currently own shares in Tidal will remain stakeholders.
Tidal will operate as a distinct entity alongside the point-of-sale hardware and software offerings of San Francisco-based Square, the payments company founded by CEO Jack Dorsey, who is also co-founder and chief executive of Twitter.
Tidal has presented itself as the artist-friendly alternative to other music streamers, and Square says it will take that phenomenon further for musicians just as it has for businesses with its financial systems.
“It comes down to one simple idea: finding new ways for artists to support their work,” Dorsey said in the statement announcing the deal.
Jay-Z said in the statement that the “partnership will be a game-changer for many.” I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!"
The Week's Top Stories is a guided tour through the biggest market stories of the week, from winning stocks to brutal dips to the facts and forecasts generating buzz on Wall Street. Up this week: Meta, Disney & Microsoft-Activision Blizzard.
Members of the Screen Actors Guild - American Federation of Television and Radio Artists union officially went on strike Friday after negotiations broke down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. Cheddar News explains.
With so much information floating around about student loans, and an uncertain federal plan to forgive a significant amount of debt, Cheddar News brought in an expert to help you sort through what's going on.
The latest season of the Real Housewives of New York City premiered this week, and Cheddar's own Michelle Castillo got a chance to catch up with the ladies and get some of their tips on how to stretch your dollar in the Big Apple.
