Apple Quashes Rumors of Potential Tidal Acquisition

[MacRumors]

Apple has moved to quash rumors that it is interested in purchasing rival music streaming service Tidal, according to BuzzFeed.

Back in June of this year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Apple was "in talks" to acquire Tidal, which has fiercely competed with Apple Music for exclusivity rights to top list artists.

However, pushed on the subject in a forthcoming interview, head of Apple Music Jimmy Iovine told BuzzFeed that "We're really running our own race. We're not looking to acquire any streaming services." Iovine didn't deny that discussions had taken place, but said that no acquisition deal was currently in the works.

Iovine's remarks are the first time anyone from Apple has commented on the alleged talks, which some believed indicated Cupertino's hardened resolve to catch Spotify as the leader in the streaming market. Yesterday, Spotify announced that it now has over 40 million paying subscribers, compared to Apple Music's 17 million as of early September, showing that Spotify is still outpacing Apple's service in terms of growth.

Buying Tidal would have landed Apple Music an additional 4 million subscribers, all things remaining the same.

Theoretically, acquiring the company could have also aided Apple's relationships with some big names in the music industry - Tidal is owned by various artists including Beyoncé, Rihanna, Kanye West, Alicia Keys, and Madonna. Back in June, Kanye West suggested the company wanted to partner up with Apple Music to heal the schism between the rival services, which he said was harming the industry.

In March 2015, Jay Z acquired Tidal parent company Aspiro AB for $56 million, but it has struggled to find stability. The company has moved on three chief executives in the last year, and last week it reported a net loss of $28 million for 2015, more than double its losses from the year before.

Apple released a redesigned, more streamlined version of its own streaming service on Tuesday as a part of the new iOS 10 release.

Article Link: Apple Quashes Rumors of Potential Tidal Acquisition

 

[44267547]

Sorry Kanye. Maybe some other time.

 

[Lapidus]

There used to be a difference between Apple & other services like Facebook. Facebook buys the biggest players on the market (Instagram, WhatsApp, ..) so it becomes the biggest player. Apple normally does not buy big players but becomes the biggest player anyway by making a killer competitive product.
I'm curious about where this will end. Will they buy Spotify or will they make a killer competitive product?

I used iTunes for over 12 years, switched to Apple Music - it messed up my library. Now I'm a Spotify user.

 

[fitshaced]

Kanye West is seriously getting far too much attention in the world.

 

[djcerla]

There used to be a difference between Apple & other services like Facebook. Facebook buys the biggest players on the market (Instagram, WhatsApp, ..) so it becomes the biggest player. Apple normally does not buy big players but becomes the biggest player anyway by making a killer competitive product.
I'm curious about where this will end. Will they buy Spotify or will they make a killer competitive product?

I used iTunes for over 12 years, switched to Apple Music - it messed up my library. Now I'm a Spotify user.

Spotify is not sustainable as a business. The more customers they amass, the more money they lose.

 

[Mr Fusion]

Spotify is not sustainable as a business. The more customers they amass, the more money they lose.

Isn't it great?!? I wonder how much longer VC's are going to throw money at tech startups with the same business plan:

"COOL" IDEA --> PFM --> $$$

So Tidal's losing cash. Spotify loses money on each customer so the more subscribers they amass, the more they lose (and the RIAA's after them for an even bigger percentage soon.) I wonder if Apple's service is breaking even.

 

[HiRez]

Why acquire when you can just wait a few months and watch it burn itself to the ground?

 

[Jsameds]

Sorry Kanye. Maybe some other time.

The moment he heard the news..

 

[vmachiel]

Good. Let Tidal die.

 

[OneZweiThree]

Kanye West is seriously getting far too much attention in the world.

Well you just brought up his name under an article, that was just mentioning him amongst others as An example.

To put it in the great Khaled's words: congratulations, you just played yourself!

 

[djcerla]

I wonder if Apple's service is breaking even.

Not having a free tier, but only a 3 months trial makes Apple's business a more sustainable endeavour.

Also, music service profitability is not Apple's priority.

 

[Bryan Bowler]

Iovine to Kanye: Later punk!

 

[Bawstun]

Good. They should focus their efforts on making AM more like Spotify. Their features and interface are light years ahead of what Apple is offering. They're lucky they can push this to so many people via an app on their OS. I can't imagine many millions would willingly download this from an App Store.

 

[deany]

Tidal for $56,000,000 or Beats for $3,000,000,000 not a decision Warren Buffet would have signed off - the latter - I'm sure. But obviously he sees value overall in apple.

 

[peterh988]

Iovine didn't deny that discussions had taken place, but said that no acquisition deal was currently in the works.

"Jimmy, please buy us, I'm broke"

"No"

 

[Medic]

What every one seems to have forgotten is that Tidal has an edge over Spotify and AM..."lossless" streaming. I had fully expected that AM would leverage "quality" at launch and was very disappointed they didn't try to raise the bar given their historical stance on quality of audio whether it's calls, music, compression standards etc.

I'm patiently waiting for AM to upgrade in this area. Currently I feel Apple has double standards: on one end professing quality and on the other keeping the status quo on audio quality for their streaming service. Tidal (and potentially Spotify) would die overnight if they AM offered lossless (i.e. CD Quality) streaming. Come on Apple, do it!!!

 

[OS X Dude]

I call bull. They'll wait until they're really on the rocks before swooping in and acquiring them at a cheaper price. They'd be silly not to, more artists and customers for Apple Music (and they really want as many as they can).

Plus, it'd mean Prince was available on Apple Music

 

[macpeach55]

What every one seems to have forgotten is that Tidal has an edge over Spotify and AM..."lossless" streaming. I had fully expected that AM would leverage "quality" at launch and was very disappointed they didn't try to raise the bar given their historical stance on quality of audio whether it's calls, music, compression standards etc.

I'm patiently waiting for AM to upgrade in this area. Currently I feel Apple has double standards: on one end professing quality and on the other keeping the status quo on audio quality for their streaming service. Tidal (and potentially Spotify) would die overnight if they AM offered lossless (i.e. CD Quality) streaming. Come on Apple, do it!!!

I totally agree with you regarding it being something Apple should anyway always push for, as part of their "better than" approach.
BUT look at what most people are listening to AM on. Cheap, cheap headphones. With an Accountant in charge nowadays, I don't see true quality becoming a priority anytime soon.

 

[newyorksole]

Kanye West is seriously getting far too much attention in the world.

He's earned it.

 

[6836838]

What every one seems to have forgotten is that Tidal has an edge over Spotify and AM..."lossless" streaming. I had fully expected that AM would leverage "quality" at launch and was very disappointed they didn't try to raise the bar given their historical stance on quality of audio whether it's calls, music, compression standards etc.

I'm patiently waiting for AM to upgrade in this area. Currently I feel Apple has double standards: on one end professing quality and on the other keeping the status quo on audio quality for their streaming service. Tidal (and potentially Spotify) would die overnight if they AM offered lossless (i.e. CD Quality) streaming. Come on Apple, do it!!!

You think people on here care about lossless when they're listening through BT headphones!!!?

Apple has clearly taken the 'mainstream' option in audio fidelity. If you're looking for pro audio solutions, Apple is no longer an option.

 

[69Mustang]

Tidal for $56,000,000 or Beats for $3,000,000,000 not a decision Warren Buffet would have signed off - the latter - I'm sure. But obviously he sees value overall in apple.

Let's look at that a little more closely, shall we? A. Pay $56M for a service company that is not profitable, has very little marketshare, and may be out of business in the very near future. B. Pay $3B for product company that is highly profitable (most profitable in it's segment), has great marketshare (largest in it's segment), has huge brand recognition, and could pay for itself within the next 2-4 years.

Warren Buffet might not have signed off on the Beats acquisition, but I'd put money on the fact that he'd sign off on it 10x out of 10 before he signed off on Tidal.

 

[macpeach55]

He's earned it.

Funny. This was a joke I take it?

 

[Drachir2000]

The only reason they came out with TIDAL is in hopes of copying Dr. Dre's success and becoming billionaires. I for one hope Apple doesnt buy it. The service is as stupid as its founders.

 

[69Mustang]

What every one seems to have forgotten is that Tidal has an edge over Spotify and AM..."lossless" streaming. I had fully expected that AM would leverage "quality" at launch and was very disappointed they didn't try to raise the bar given their historical stance on quality of audio whether it's calls, music, compression standards etc.

I'm patiently waiting for AM to upgrade in this area. Currently I feel Apple has double standards: on one end professing quality and on the other keeping the status quo on audio quality for their streaming service. Tidal (and potentially Spotify) would die overnight if they AM offered lossless (i.e. CD Quality) streaming. Come on Apple, do it!!!

Apple probably realized early on what Tidal discovered after launch. The masses don't care about lossless. The niche group that does... yeah, they don't move the profit needle. Tidal might die overnight if Apple intro'd lossless, but it's already dying so that would be no big feat. Lossless isn't the "be all, end all". Most don't care about it and even fewer have any idea what it is.

 

[LewisChapman]

Although it doesn't make financial sense, I wish Apple would acquire SoundCloud. I feel it's the best streaming service for discovering new content (at least in the music genres I enjoy anyway).