Sprint Acquires 33 Percent of Jay-Z Owned Tidal For $200 Million

Sprint is beefing up services for its wireless customers. As a part of a deal with Jay-Z-owned music streaming service Tidal, Sprint’s customers will have unlimited access to exclusive artist content not available anywhere else.  Tidal and its artists will make exclusive content that will only be available to current and new Sprint customers. Sprint will own 33 percent of Tidal. According to Billboard, the deal is worth an estimated $200 million. Sprint’s chief executive officer, Marcelo Claure, will join Tidal’s Board of Directors as an additional part of the agreement.

“Jay saw not only a business need, but a cultural one, and put his heart and grit into building Tidal into a world-class music streaming platform that is unrivaled in quality and content,” Claure said in a statement. “The passion and dedication that these artist-owners bring to fans will enable Sprint to offer new and existing customers access to exclusive content and entertainment experiences in a way no other service can.”

Sprint has been boosting its services to keep up with rival Verizon. In 2016 Sprint announced a commitment to create or bring back to America 5,000 jobs. The company also teamed up with Pokemon Go to create a special experience for customers visiting Sprint retail locations or its pre-paid subsidiary Boost Mobile.