[caption id="attachment_783351" align="aligncenter" width="1068"]<a href="http://madamenoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/tidal.jpeg"><img src="http://madamenoire.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/tidal.jpeg" alt="Sprint Tidal" width="1068" height="600" class="size-full wp-image-783351" /></a> tidal.com[/caption]
The music streaming service <a href="http://tidal.com/">Tidal</a> has reached a deal with Sprint and the cellular company has now <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7662653/sprint-jay-z-tidal-33-percent-stake-purchase">acquired 33% of the company's stake.</a> According to <a href="http://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7662653/sprint-jay-z-tidal-33-percent-stake-purchase">Billboard</a>, over a third of the company was purchased for $200 million--which brings Tidal's total worth to $600 million! Despite the new partnership, artists (Beyonce, Madonna, Alica Keys, Rihanna, etc.) will still remain partial owners and receive <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/23/technology/sprint-tidal-acquisition/">a $75 million annual artist marketing fund. </a>
The interesting and most rewarding aspects of the acquisition are the benefits for Sprint users. Customers will now be able to access Tidal's service with exclusive content on their phones. Talk about an early -- or maybe late -- Christmas gift!
The new deal levels the playing field for the otherwise "struggling" streaming service which now has a larger platform for distribution. According to <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2017/01/23/technology/sprint-tidal-acquisition/">CNN tech</a>, Spotify and Apple Music serve as lead music streaming service providers with 40 and 20 million subscribers, respectively. This might change since Sprint's customer base totals 45 million and the exposure should increase the ROI and monthly user numbers.
This strategy seems to move Tidal's position to the forefront of the streaming industry, but Jay-Z may want to consider partnering with lead music executives to enable even more exclusive content or possibly selling the entire company to Sprint. However, something tells me this "hustla" will not remain defeated.
<em>Quindara Lazenbury is the definition of #bosslady with the woes of adulthood to keep the ball rolling. Writer and aspiring techie by profession. Follow her @wholefully_q</em>
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