Tidal, Samsung Renew Takeover Talks (Report)

The companies resume their on-again-off-again talks about possiblity of Samsung acquiring subsciption music service

Jay Z at a launch event for Tidal
Getty

Tidal and Samsung are at it again.

Electronics giant Samsung restarted talks to acquire the subscription streaming service owned by Jay Z and backed by a bevy of high profile music megastars, according to a report in the New York Post, citing unnamed sources.

News that Samsung and Tidal were circling each other first emerged in October, but talks stalled.

Both companies have grappled with their streaming-music efforts.

Tidal was purchased by Jay Z last year in a deal worth $56 million after the service launched in the U.S. in late 2014 by its previous owner. Jay Z and a slew of top music stars relaunched the service in a splashy event last year, but their proclamations about being the artist-advocacy service came off as tone-deaf with consumers, who balked at the $19.99 subscription price Tidal set for its high-definition streams.

Since then, Tidal has had a revolving door of CEOs, mishandled Rihanna‘s album release, and faced technical snafus with Kanye West’s impromptu exclusive record release through the service.

Samsung, meanwhile, has failed to gain meaningful mainstream traction for its service, Milk Music, despite preinstalling it on its blockbuster Galaxy and Note smartphones.

The Post also reported that Tidal has also held discussions with Google and Spotify about smaller-scale partnerships, and that Jay-Z has used personal wealth to help Tidal pay its royalty bills.

A Samsung spokesperson said the company’s policy is to decline comment on rumors or speculation. Tidal didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

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