Mill: Apple might buy Jay-Z’s Tidal

Apple may have finally had enough of Tidal’s competitive streak of exclusive albums and videos, including a pre-release version of Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo, West’s headline-making ‘Famous’ music video, and the exclusive streaming rights to Beyonce’s Lemonade, which included a feature-length visual component.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Apple in Talks to Acquire Jay Z’s Tidal Music Service

[…]

The talks are ongoing and may not result in a deal, these people said. Apple is exploring the idea of bringing on Tidal to bolster its Apple Music service because of Tidal’s strong ties to popular artists such as Kanye West and Madonna.

Pre-Jay-Z (Shawn Carter), Tidal was originally just a high-bitrate streaming service with few bells and whistles. Though a US$56 million sale to Carter turned the service into a exclusivity-wonderland. A handful of artists were given stakes in the company, meaning artists such as West were more easily swayed to stay away from exclusive deals with Apple Music and other competitors.

The purchase also birthed possibly the most impressively self-congratulatory video of all time:

If the deal goes through I think it could turn Apple Music into the destination for streaming music. Apple already has arrangements with artists like Drake and Taylor Swift, but Tidal would give the company an entire suite of new, exclusive, proven albums, songs, and videos.