Jay-Z bids USD 56 Million for music streaming services

Los Angeles: Rapper Jay-Z is expanding his empire into music streaming business.

Through Project Panther Bidco Ltd. Owned by his company Sean Carter Enterprises (SCE), the rapper has placed a USD 56 million bid for Aspiro, a Swedish company that developed two emerging high-quality music streaming apps, reported Ace Showbiz.

Jay-Z has reportedly got preliminary approval from the Aspiro board. Fredrik Bjorland, who headed a committee recommending the company to take the offer, believed that the rapper would be "a good owner ... To continue its successful international expansion."

"Aspiro is a media technology company in the forefront of the ongoing redefinition of music consumption," an SCE representative said.

"Through the subscription services WiMP and TIDAL, Aspiro offers a complete experience of higher HiFi quality. The platform encompasses audio, video and integrated editorial features... Panther's strategic ambition revolves around global expansion and up-scaling of Aspiro's platform, technology and services."

The Oslo-based developer launched WiMP in Europe, and Tidal in the US and UK. The former has had 512,000 subscribers. The number for the latter hasn't been revealed, but fans have to pay a monthly fee of USD 20 for the high-quality streams.