Hip hop mogul Jay-Z just dropped $56 million to buy Aspiro, a Scandinavian music streaming company.
The Sweden-listed company was purchased for 464 million Swedish crowns ($56 million) through Project Panther Bidco Ltd, a company controlled by Shawn Corey Carter. Aspiro runs the music streaming services WiMP and Tidal. The services launched in 2010 and is currently available in Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland, and Sweden. Right now Tidal users get access to 25 million tracks and some 75,000 music videos for $19.99, with audio available to stream and download in the 16-bit FLAC format.
With this move it seems as though Jay-Z is looking to challenge Spotify, today’s dominant music streaming service. Neither WiMP nor Tidal are big names in the states right now but, they have over a half-million paying subscribers so far.
Over the years Jay-Z has continued to show that he is a man of many trades. He is more than just a rapper but also am adept business man. Last year Forbes estimated his net worth to be $520 million. His other business ventures include the Rocawear clothing brand, the Roc Nation record label, Roc Nation Sports Agency, and his affiliation with D’USSÉ.
Both WiMP and Tidal are available on a range of devices, including iOS, Android, and Windows Phone.
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