Jay-Z has spoken out on the sale this week of his majority stake in the Tidal streaming service.
Earlier this week, it was revealed that the rapper has sold his controlling stake in Tidal to Square, the mobile payments firm run by the Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, for $297 million (£215 million).
- Read more: Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service has split the music industry apart – Who is for? Who is against?
The deal will see Tidal’s artist co-owners, including Beyoncé, Madonna and Rihanna, retain their stakes and become the second largest group of stakeholders after Square. Jay-Z has also joined the board of directors at Square.
Speaking about the deal in a rare set of tweets that were posted yesterday (March 4) – his first Twitter posts since November 2018 when he clarified one of his lyrics about Kanye West – Jay-Z said that he has long believed that Tidal is “about more than just streaming music”.
“Six years later, it has remained a platform that supports artists at every point in their careers,” he continued. “Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey.”
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. Artists deserve better tools to assist them in their creative journey.
— Mr. Carter (@sc) March 4, 2021
This partnership will be a game-changer for many. I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!
— Mr. Carter (@sc) March 4, 2021
The rapper then praised Dorsey as “one of the greatest minds of our times”, saying that their “many discussions about TIDAL’s endless possibilities have made me even more inspired about its future”.
“This shared vision makes me even more excited to join the Square board,” he added. “This partnership will be a game-changer for many. I look forward to all this new chapter has to offer!”
The Tidal deal follows swiftly on from Jay-Z selling 50 per cent of his luxury champagne brand Armand de Brignac to Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH) last month.
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