Jay Z to Sell Tidal?

Apple is in early stage talks with Tidal, a music streaming service launched by Jay Z, about buying the business

According to The Wall Street Journal, talks are not necessarily close to a sale and are ongoing.

The report claims that people close to the business confirmed the talks but a Tidal spokesperson has denied that the discussions are happening.

The move is said to be so Apple can bolster its own music service Apple Music and is eyeing up Tidal specifically because of its ties to high profile musicians like Kanye West and Beyonce. Both released their albums on Tidal-only upon release, before releasing more widely.

Beyonce’s decision to release her most recent album ‘Lemonade’ on the service first added to Tidal’s most successful month to date earlier this year.

Apple has also had success with this model, getting both Taylor Swift and Drake to exclusively release albums on its service before a wider release.

Tidal sets itself apart from rivals like Spotify by offering a more ‘premium’ or ‘high fidelity’ offering. It charges above average ($20 a month) for a premium service, which offers better sound quality. It says it has over 4m paying subscribers, compared to Spotify’s upwards of 30m paying subscribers.