Sprint Buys 33% of Music Streaming Service Tidal

Sprint Buys 33% of Music Streaming Service Tidal
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Sprint acquired a 33 percent stake in music-streaming service Tidal as the fourth-largest U.S. wireless carrier turns to media streaming to attract more customers with exclusive content, according to Bloomberg. Marcelo Claure, Sprint’s chief executive officer, will join the Tidal board and musician Jay Z will continue to run the business, according to a statement.

Financial terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. Sprint paid $200 million for the stake, according to a report in MusicBusinessWorldwide. Sprint’s pact with Tidal comes after larger wireless rivals have added streaming services to their list of features offered to subscribers. AT&T waives data charges to customers that subscribe to its online TV service, DirecTV Now. Verizon provides customers free streaming of NFL games and its go90 video service. T-Mobile US lets users stream music and video from more than 100 partners without racking up big bills.

Tidal has struggled to add customers in a market dominated by Spotify, Apple and Pandora. Tidal was in discussions with Apple about a sale last year, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal. The company also tried to attract interest from Samsung in early 2016, according to Variety. Tidal said last year that it surpassed 3 million paying customers, but since then, there have been questions about whether the company has been able to hold on to users.