“Apple is apparently in exploratory talks to acquire Jay Z’s streaming service Tidal, for an undisclosed amount, according to The Wall Street Journal,” Micah Singleton writes for The Verge.
“The potential of this seems insane for a number of reasons, first among which are suggestions that Apple was actively engaging in a smear campaign against Tidal last year, and secondly Tidal owner Jay Z’s general disdain for the company,” Singleton writes. “But it also makes sense for both parties, given the uphill battle they both have surpassing Spotify to become the top streaming service (Apple’s road is way, way, way easier, but still), and the synergies that exist between the two companies.”
“There’s a lot of detail to work out still, and a lot could go wrong before any of this is close to being solidified,” Singleton writes. “But Apple acquiring Tidal isn’t as crazy as it might initially sound and could be a win for both parties.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Getting (and paying) the Tidal artists fully on board the Apple Music train (and potentially providing exclusives) is more than enough reason to make the deal.
No wonder someone’s spotifying their undies.
SEE ALSO:
Desperate Spotify tries to manufacture an Apple App Store antitrust issue that does not exist – July 1, 2016
Spotify accuses Apple of ‘grave harm’ – July 1, 2016
Apple in talks to acquire Jay Z’s Tidal music service – June 30, 2016
If we take Beyonce’s Lemonade at face value, then her marriage with Jay Z is on the rocks, which would not be good for Apple’s relations with one of the biggest acts in music.
You cannot escape Lemonade on Tidal. It was everywhere. Still is. If Tidal goes to Apple, that wouldn’t change.
One thing you become aware of when watching the Lemonade project is that it is a massive production brought to you by countless professionals of artistic, creative, managerial and technical backgrounds. It’s a fucking moonshot.
I don’t know what goes on in the private lives of Beyoncé and Jay-z but I do know they’re smart enough to capitalize on it, whatever it might be.
They’ve got a combined net worth of about a billion dollars. This is not Kanye and Kim we’re talking about here. Beyonce is worth hundreds of millions on her own. Jay-z about $650 million. I don’t think Jay-Z wants to pay her alimony.
They say for every beautiful woman, you can point to a man who’s tired of, uh, having adult relations with her, but I suspect Jay-Z is smart enough to keep it in his pants. At least form here on out.
Using Tidal is a pleasure when compared to iTunes. Contrary to Voice of Wrong’s assertion that people cannot hear the difference between 256k AAC and uncompressed music, you most definitely can. There is a depth to it that you become aware of, the highs and midranges become more discernible, you observe nuances in the music that you previously just didn’t hear.
This doesn’t take a billion dollar pair of headphones either. The Audio-Technical ATH-M50x, featured here on MDN: http://macdailynews.com/2016/05/09/audio-technicas-ath-m50x-headphones-live-up-to-the-hype-something-of-an-anti-beats/
make the difference very clear.
I find the difference most pronounced on recent recordings including recently remastered oldies. In particular Jazz and Classical, but by no means is that a restriction.
When the Beyoncé Album “Lemonade” came out and I heard the first two tracks on Tidal, I thought it didn’t sound any better than iTunes. Then I noticed I wasn’t in HIFI mode which wasn’t included in the trial, so I went ahead and opted for a month. I was stunned by the difference. Going back and forth, all I can say is that the iTunes version sounds flatter in comparison.
I honestly never wanted to hear Kanyé West’s voice so clear.
Then there’s using the Tidal system. First instead of Apple’s addiction to bright white apps and UIs, it’s dark. I enjoy listening to music in the dark and having a black screen with white text is just the way it should be.
Finding old music is easy with a simple search feature, but what I really enjoy is discovering new music on Tidal. You simply click on Genre’s, pick a Genre and start exploring.
The people at Tidal have a much better idea how to build collections than the folks at Apple. One of my favorites is “Not your Parents’ Jazz.” It’s made up of all new jazz artists which are difficult to find these days.
There’s a separate app for the Mac as well as iOS.
I’m almost sorry to see it go to Apple. Hopefully they’ll leave it alone, or keep on the existing development team. Apple has demonstrated with iTunes that they cannot do a better job.
More Apple money down the rathole to payoff friends in the music biz. Apple shareholders should have Cook’s hide over this waste.