Sprint dismisses Tidal investment claims, though does admit to talks
Despite claims by published reports, Sprint put out a statement Thursday claiming it had not made a financial investment or entered into an exclusive partnership with music streaming platform Tidal, which is backed by musician Jay-Z.
Sprint did admit that it was in talks about a partnership, but that nothing had been finalized.
“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,” the carrier said in a statement. “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.”
Sprint added that contrary to reports, parent company Softbank also had not purchased a stake in Tidal.
The statement followed a report from the New York Post that claimed Sprint and Softbank had bought a minority stake in the venture that values Tidal at around $250 million. Tidal held a star-studded event this week where its CIO reportedly said the company had been working closely with Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure. The report claimed Sprint was preparing to offer the service to customers.
Tidal currently offers free access to more than 25 million songs and 75,000 music videos, with access to advertising free services beginning at $10 per month. The company’s application is available for both Google’s Android and Apple’s iOS platforms.
Sprint has a convoluted history in the music business, including its initial foray into the space way back in 2000 with partner HitHive. That offering required customers to upload music files from their desktop computers to an online site, and then download the files to their phone via Sprint’s Wireless Web service. The carrier has since run variations of downloadable song content and partnerships with streaming service providers, including a much-hyped deal last year with Spotify.
Rival T-Mobile US has been very aggressive in the streaming music arena, announcing last year its UnRadio platform that includes access to more than two dozen streaming music providers, with the services not impacting a customer’s data bucket.
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