U.S. wireless carrier Sprint announced Monday that it’s buying one-third of Tidal, Jay Z’s music-streaming service, in a bid to give customers exclusive content not available anywhere else. That’s right, Tidal and its artists will produce exclusive content that will only be available to current and new Sprint customers.
While Sprint now owns 33 percent of Tidal, Jay Z & Co. will continue to run the artist-centric service. Sprint’s CEO Marcelo Claure will 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’s Artists under Tidal will be able to take advantage of a dedicated marketing fund provided by Sprint which will, in the company’s own words, give artists “the flexibility to create and share their work with and for their fans.”
The service is currently available in more than 52 countries.
Tidal offers unlimited streaming of the nearly 43 million songs in its catalog and 140,000 high-quality videos in exchange for a flat monthly fee of $9.99 like Apple Music, Spotify and most other music-streaming services.
Tidal recently began offering Warner Music Group’s music catalogue and other content in “Master” audio quality for $19.99 per month. News on exclusive offers and upcoming promotions regarding Tidal will be shared soon, said Sprint.
Source: Sprint