Jack Dorsey's Square to Acquire Jay-Z's Tidal Streaming Service for $297 Million
Todd Spangler, provided by
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Square, the payments-processing company led by CEO Jack Dorsey, announced plans to buy a “significant” majority stake in Tidal, the music and entertainment streaming platform run by Jay-Z.
Square said it expects to pay a $297 million, in a combination of cash and stock, for the Tidal stake, with existing artist shareholders the remaining stakeholders. Tidal will operate independently within Square. Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is expected to join Square’s board, subject to the closing of the transaction.
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Why is Square buying Tidal? The company sees an opportunity in enabling direct-to-fan business models. According to Square, the deal will extend its “purpose of economic empowerment” to musicians — a new category for the payments company. Square plans to bring new systems and tools to help artists find new ways to support their work and find “financial freedom.”