Jack Dorsey’s Square has held speak with acquiring rap artist Jay Z’s music-streaming service Tidal as part of a push to diversify outdoors digital payments.
Digital payment company Square ( SQ) – Get Report, run by Twitter ( TWTR) – Get Report primary Jack Dorsey, reportedly has held talks to get music-streaming service Tidal as part of a push to diversify.
Mentioning an individual familiar with the situation, Bloomberg reported that Dorsey went over a prospective handle rap artist and music mogul Jay-Z, who got Tidal for $56 million in early 2015.
Tidal, which first launched in 2014, has struggled to keep speed with other streaming services, consisting of Spotify Innovation ( AREA) – Get Report and Apple Music ( AAPL) – Get Report, both of which have become juggernauts in streaming music and content like podcasts.
Jay-Z’s own music has been a lure for Tidal, but he put his tunes back on Spotify in 2015 – raising questions about the health of Tidal. The carefully held service hasn’t reported customer figures because stating it had 3 million paying clients in 2016.
For its part, Square and Dorsey are no complete strangers to acquisitions, though a collaboration of a musical kind would be a departure for Square.
The payments company last month announced a more payment- and credit-oriented acquisition with an offer to buy Credit Karma’s tax unit for $50 million money.
Credit Karma Tax, which provides a totally free do-it-yourself tax-filing service, will go into Square’s Cash App system.
Money App enables consumers to transfer cash, spend on goods and services, purchase stocks, and purchase and offer bitcoin. The department has grown greatly in current quarters.
Shares of Square were up 0.49% at $231.81 in premarket trading on Thursday. The stock has more than tripled year to date.
