Jay-Z Finalizing Purchase Of Streaming Service Aspiro

Rap mogul and entrepreneur Jay-Z is in the process of finalizing the purchase of Swedish company Aspiro’s international streaming services, WiMP and Tidal. Project Panther, one of the rappers serval subsidiaries, made an offer of 464 Krona ($56 million US) for 59.1% controlling interest in WiMP, which has limited service in continental Europe, and Tidal, which offers access in the US, Canada and the UK.

Executives within Project Panther are calling Aspiro an “innovative and high-quality company with a strong future growth potential.” The rising streaming service could serve as the answer to competing with streaming titan Spotify. Between its launch in 2010 and last fall, WiMP attracted over 580,000 paying customers, and with Jay-Z attached to the brand, Tidal and WiMP will look to do even bigger business. The streaming services will also look to capitalize on high-quality audio by using lossless files, similar to Neil Young’s Pono and Sony’s Luxury Walkman.