Sprint Denies Investment In Jay Z’s Tidal As Aspiro Delists From Nasdaq Stockholm

Sprint and parent company Softbank have not purchased a stake in Tidal, a spokesperson tells Billboard, despite a report from the New York Post on Wednesday (April 1) night.

“Sprint confirms that it is in discussions with Tidal, the new music streaming platform launched earlier this week, to determine how to best to make the service available to its customers,” says a Sprint spokesperson. “It further clarifies that it has not made an investment in Tidal. We are working together in partnership for the vision of the common cause of reestablishing the value of music, it is NOT a financial investment or exclusive partnership.”

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The Post also reported that an investment from Softbank would value Tidal at $250 million. In January, Jay Z made a $56 million takeover bid for Tidal’s Oslo-based parent company Aspiro, which was accepted in late March. The company’s equity stakes are currently held by Jay and 15 artist partners, the three major labels and Tidal’s employees. Vania Schlogel, Roc Nation’s chief investment officer and Tidal’s lead industry liaison, told Billboard this week that the company has been developing “a program to foster the careers of independent and emerging artists — that’s very important to the founding artists.”

Though shares of the publicly traded Aspiro spiked by a reported 938% earlier this week upon the news of Jay Z’s involvement, the company’s stock ceased trading and was delisted from Nasdaq Stockholm on April 2, per a March 16 decision by the board of directors.

Tidal offers two paid-only subscription tiers, $9.99 for standard-definition audio and $19.99 for high-definition audio on subscriptions bought via the web. A 30% surcharge attached to in-app purchases through Apple iOS.