NEW YORK (CelebrityAccess) — Rapper and music mogul Jay Z has reportedly made a $56 million to acquire Swedish company Aspiro, and its two digital musical services in a move that may see Roc Nation lining up against the dominant players in the streaming music field.
According to the New York Times, Jay Z's offer for the company came in at a 59% premium over the company's closing stock price on Thursday. The bid has already seen preliminary acceptance by Aspiro’s board.
Aspiro operates two streaming music services: WiMP music, which is available only in Denmark, Germany, Norway, Poland and Sweden; and Tidal Music, which offers streaming music videos with a monthly subscription fee. Both services offer music in a lossless, higher fidelity format.
According to The Times, WiMP has about 512,000 monthly subscribers while Tidal did not offer enrollment information.
A statement released by a spokesman for Project Panther, Jay Z's vehicle in the bid, said that streaming music “offers great potential for increased entertainment consumption and an opportunity for artists to further promote their music. Panther’s strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro’s platform, technology and services.” – Staff Writers
