- In 2015, Jay-Z acquired Norwegian music streaming service Aspiro ($60 million) and renamed it Tidal.
- Beyonce, Madonna, Rihanna and other artists joined as investors.
- Priding itself on fairly compensating artists, Tidal attracted subscribers by securing exclusive releases from Rihanna, Kanye and Beyonce.
- Norwegian newspaper accused Tidal of creating accounts and fabricating 300 million streams.
- “Tidal’s true subscriber base in March 2016 was 850,000—although Tidal said 3,000,000”.
- Mounting losses ($100 million+) sparked high turnover (4 CEOs since 2015).
- Last year Sprint invested $200 million for 33% stake.
