Apple is looking into acquiring Tidal, the premium music streaming service that competes with Apple Music, according to a new report.
The talks are exploratory, so Apple may not ultimately go through with the deal, according to the Wall Street Journal, which cited anonymous sources.
Tidal popped up in 2014 — Jay Z acquired it from Aspiro for $56 million — and has sought to distinguish itself from Spotify and other competitors by offering higher-quality audio. In addition to offering users high-definition sound, Tidal has obtained exclusives from Beyoncé, Kanye West, and other hugely popular artists. The exclusive angle may be especially appealing to Apple, given the hardware and software maker’s recent interest in producing original content.
This move would follow Apple’s $3 billion acquisition of Beats Electronics in 2014. Beats Music has bolstered Apple Music‘s core product, and Apple also sells Beats headphones.
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If Tidal were to become an Apple property, the Journal said, it would “bolster” Apple Music, which currently has 15 million subscribers. Privately held Spotify, meanwhile, had 30 million subscribers as of March and had more than 100 million monthly active users as of this month.
Apple and Tidal representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
