Samsung in talks to buy Tidal?

Samsung has re-started talks to acquire the Tidal music streaming service, several sources told the New York Post.

The South Korean electronics and mobile phone company has had close ties with Tidal since its relaunch by Jay-Z 16 months ago.

It is sponsoring Rihanna’s new Anti album and world tour to the tune of US$28 million. It funded a giveaway of a million downloads of the album. The Barbados-born singer is a Tidal co-partner and is signed to Jay-Z’s Roc Nation label which is distributed through Universal Music.

In 2013, Samsung paid for 1 million free downloads of Jay Z’s Magna Carta Holy Grail through an app.

One of the Post’s sources said, “Samsung is re-engaging; they are working on something really big, and they’re keeping it very quiet in case it leaks.”

Google and Spotify are also said to be having their eye on buying out Tidal (or going into a partnership) to bolster up their own digital music services.

Through its co-owners as Beyonce and Madonna offering exclusive previews, Tidal doubled its subscribers to 1 million subscribers. But Apple Music hit 11 million in six months, while both are a long way from market leader Spotify’s near-30 million subscribers. Deezer is 6 million and Rhapsody/Napster with an estimated 3.5 million.

Despite its celeb-power, the mood in the streaming industry is that Tidal needs a new home. It has lost a number of key executives. It has suffered some major technical glitches. Rhianna’s Anti leaked before its official release. Kanye West’s The Life Of Pablo was launched with a stream on Tidal drew a reported audience of 20 million but suffered buffering issues. The album was also illegally downloaded by 500,000 in its first 24 hours – not just a financial issue but a credibility disaster for the company.

Tidal is rumoured to be having problems paying some royalties in time, and Jay-Z has dug into his deep pockets for the service. Jay-Z bought it for $56 million through his Project Panther Bidco investment company.

While Tidal executives valued the company at $250 million at launch, it is now valued by the streaming market at $100 million.