Having made his platinum-riddled mark on the recording industry, Jay Z has made successful expansion moves into basketball team ownership, as well as nightclub involvement and athlete representation through his Roc Nation company. Now, Sean Carter is looking to conquer the streaming world.
The New York Times reports that Jay Z has made an official $56 million offer for Aspiro, a Swedish company that controls high-quality streaming services Wimp and Tidal. WiMP has 512,000 paying users, according to Aspiro’s most recent quarterly report. Numbers for Tidal, which sells subscriptions at $20 a month (twice the rate of Spotify), are not available.
Sean Carter Enterprises (SCE) has confirmed that their company Project Panther Bidco was in the acquisition runnings for the Swedish music service. “Aspiro is a media technology company in the forefront of the ongoing redefinition of music consumption,” the SCE spokesperson tells Rolling Stone. “Through the subscription services WiMP and TIDAL, Aspiro offers a complete experience of higher HiFi quality. The platform encompasses audio, video and integrated editorial features.
“Panther believes that the recent developments in the entertainment industry, with the migration to media streaming, offers great potential for increased entertainment consumption and an opportunity for artists to further promote their music,” the statement continued. “Panther’s strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro’s platform, technology and services.”
The bid has reportedly received preliminary approval from the Aspiro board. Shareholder approval is necessary, however, and therefore “there is no guaranty that a transaction will take place.” But a great momentum of positive PR and promise for high-profile alignment sure don’t hurt it’s chances.
