Jay Z’s Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square: What this deal means for music and Fintech
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Jay-Z’s Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square, a mobile payments company led by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. Social media was a buzz on Thursday 4th March 2021 when it was announced that plans were underway for Tidal, a popular audio streaming platform to sell the majority of its shares to the Fintech company known as Square in a $ 297million deal that could transform the music and fintech industries.

Most of the buzz surrounding the news was mainly because of how popular the two company owners are and their influence in shaping today’s culture. Tidal is owned by a number of big names in the music industry like Beyonce and Rihanna who will remain shareholders after this acquisition. As huge as this deal is, it is important to know what it could mean for the music and Fintech industries and we shall look at the possibilities.

Also read: Twitter teams up with Breaker app, a social podcast app to kick-start it’s new project

Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square could open the door for many opportunities

Fans investing in artists’ content

Tidal was launched by Jay Z in 2015, “to re-establish the value of music and protect the sustainability of the music industry rooted in creativity and expression”—and essentially, create a place where artists and fans can interact much easily. Billions of music fans around the world continue to use the app because of its great streaming quality and original video content.

Consider the possibility of fans investing in artists and their content on a much wider scale for example by purchasing their merchandise or funding their album projects because of plans of Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square.

Also read: Spotify to launch in Uganda soon and 80 more countries across the globe

Cryptocurrency but for Tidal

Bitcoin’s value continues to go through the roof and the cryptocurrency’s success cannot be denied at this point. Everyone wants to have a piece of the digital currency even Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey and Jay Z. Earlier this year, it was announced that Carter and Dorsey joined forces to create an endowment (Btrust) and donated 500 bitcoin ($ 24M) to help jumpstart Bitcoin development in Africa and India. At the root of this trust fund, more people in these places will be able to take part in the trading of bitcoin, a form of money called cryptocurrency.

The two CEO’s clearly believe that cryptocurrency is the way to go. News of Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square could mean that there is a possibility of them introducing something similar for Tidal where music lovers can carry out their purchases using cryptocurrency and pay artists for their content?

Read also: There are many Ugandans investing in Bitcoin today more than ever before

Concerts and event payments using e-tickets

Financial technology has grown wildly over the years as people all over the world have embraced online transacting which is more reliable, convenient and secure. With the plans of the Tidal company in an acquisition deal with Square, this could expand e-transacting and take it to a whole new level. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a huge bump in different sectors where interaction has been limited quite a lot. This saw many artists getting innovative as they did their shows online for their fans to enjoy.

Such situations could be a great money generating opportunity for artists on Tidal to host their virtual events like concerts where fans pay for them using e-tickets through Square without the use of third parties as has been the case.

The news that Tidal company in acquisition deal with Square is exciting as it is expected to transform the business world in different ways like we have explored above. All these ways surely have one thing in common and that is they are all opportunities to generate more money.

Read more: How much is Spotify in Uganda?

Read more: Bitcoin currently trading at $30,000 hits epic all-time high

READ: Smile Uganda launches the MySmile app which is great news for customers.

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