There goes Tidal?

from what i glean, apple is interested in the exclusive content, specifically the ability to sell digital downloads and video clips, which is where the real money is. the  paid music subscription business, as i understand it, is a big money loser (even spotify isn't making a profit). i do think apple, which targets premium users who want the latest-and-greatest, could substantially increase tidal's premium subscriber base (reportedly only 1.5m pay for the hifi streaming) through product tie-ins and promos; conceivably owning the tidal platform could increase demand for apple devices esp. if apple makes it exclusive to ios. what does appear obvious is that tidal is unlikely to continue as a standalone company; it's been variously rumored that samsung and twitter were looking to purchase.

@2psyop That link took me nowhere. 

Apple buying Tidal?  Hmmm. Maybe the price tag makes it a bargain for Apple and a rescue for Jay Z and other investors.

Apple Music now has over 15 million subscribers. Tidal has what? 3 million? How much overlap is there already? So I guess there's some incremental cash flow benefits.

I read recently where Apple really wants to be a content provider, not merely a storefront for content. They haven't had success, yet, with livestreaming TV and Cable Networks. Maybe Tidal is the sharp end of a wedge they can use to build upon because Tidal has a some "exclusive" content that Apple would like so I guess there's that.

Maybe Apple really likes the Tidal player's Euro minimalist interface design. That logo would look good in the Apple Store.

Or maybe Apple finally realized that full resolution music streaming has an attractive upside growth potential and Tidal has the infrastructure in place already. Or someone at Apple heard MQA and decided, woah, we could really charge a lot (A LOT) for this and people would buy it. 

There are some very smart, forward thinking people at Apple. I give Apple credit for bringing music listening back into my life via the iPod and iTunes. I'm an Audiogoner because Apple re-ignited my love of music: they just didn't offer the products that had the fidelity I wanted.

Given my enthusiasm for Tidal, it's hard for me to think up reasons Apple wouldn't want to buy it. 

http://http//www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/07/monster-sues-beats_n_6428966.html

Well they could buy it and ruin it like they did with Beats. Or like Beats did when they bought MOG. MOG was actually good and I think Tidal has gotten better.... but not if Apple gets it.

BTW Beats co-owner (Dr Dre) stole many of the ideas for his headphones from Monster LLC.