Square: Banking, Bitcoin, Now Streaming Beats?

Square bought a majority stake in Tidal, a music streaming service owned by Jay-Z, for $247 million.

Jay-Z will be joining the Square board and Tidal artists will keep their ownership in the firm. Jack Dorsey announced the move on Twitter, seeming to assuage worries from the first post.

“Why would a music streaming company and a financial services company join forces,” Dorsey wrote. “We believe there’s a compelling one between music and the economy. Making the economy work for artists is similar to what Square has done for sellers.”

Square is acquiring a majority ownership stake in TIDAL through a new joint venture, with the original artists becoming the second largest group of shareholders, and JAY-Z joining the Square board. Why would a music streaming company and a financial services company join forces?!

— jack (@jack) March 4, 2021

Dorsey and Jay have been friends for years and were spotted hanging out with Beyonce on a yacht in the Hamptons this summer. Dorsey and Jay-Z last month went in on a multimillion Bitcoin trust fund to support Bitcoin development in India and Africa.

Beyoncé, JAY-Z, Rumi, Blue Ivy w/ Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in the Hamptons — Aug. 24th. pic.twitter.com/bNEz0Nch2y

— BEYONCÉ LEGION (@Bey_Legion) August 25, 2020

Jay-Z bought Tidal in 2015 for $56 million, but despite working with top music artists like Coldplay and Kanye West, the service has struggled to compete with Apple and Spotify. After a year of closed venues, Billboard reported that last year Tidal had a cash problem and was missing payments to rights holders. Tidal got a cash injection from the sale, while Square spent less than 1% of the firm’s value to bring Jay-Z’s leadership and network of music industry heavy-hitters into the fold.

“I said from the beginning that Tidal was about more than just streaming music, and six years later, it has remained a platform that supports artists at every point in their careers,” said Jay-Z in a press statement. “Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey. Jack and I have had many discussions about Tidal’s endless possibilities that have made me even more inspired about its future. This shared vision makes me even more excited to join the Square board. This partnership will be a game-changer for many. I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!”

Kevin Travers was a Reporter at deBanked.