Jay Z set to make play in dynamic music streaming game

Music mogul Jay Z is expected on Monday to unveil his blueprint for high-resolution music streaming service Tidal.

A press invite for an event scheduled for Monday went out last week promising that "Shawn 'JAY Z' Carter and special guests will announce a commitment to a new direction for the music industry from both a creative and business perspective."

The hip-hop icon last month made a $56 million bid for the service and parent company Aspiro through Project Panther Bidco Ltd., which is indirectly-owned by his S. Carter Enterprises. The Scandinavian company Aspiro currently operates two music services, Tidal in the U.S., Canada and the U.K., and WiMP, in Norway, Sweden and other parts of Europe.

The two services will now be operated under the name Tidal worldwide. The event, which will be live-streamed, will unveil "a new chapter" for the global streaming service.

Jay Z's play with Tidal comes at a tumultuous time for the music streaming market. Apple is reportedly revamping its streaming music plan. The tech giant acquired Beats Music last year for $3 billion, but is now planning a new streaming service to better compete with Spotify, The New York Timesreported last week.

Apple had hoped to undercut Spotify on its $9.99 monthly paid tier of service by $2, but music labels would not agree to Apple's offer for lower licensing fees, sources told the Times.

This is part of an aggressive move by the major labels, specifically Universal, Sony and Warner Music to limit or close free access streaming, says Paul Resnikoff, publisher of Digital Music News. "They've lost faith in the ability of 'freemium' to covert enough paid subscribers, where the real money in streaming comes from," he said. "That explains the refusal to allow a free tier on Apple's upcoming streaming launch, and now, a refusal to even let Apple offer a lower price point."

A reason why the music industry might embrace Jay Z and Tidal? It charges $19.99 monthly for unlimited listening of high resolution music -- with no free listening tier, although you can get a seven-day free trial.

Tidal's music quality offerings include 1411 kilobits per second lossless HiFi, which is equivalent to CD sound and considered higher quality than lower resolution levels of Spotify (320 kbps) and iTunes (256 kbps).

Users can access Tidal on Android and iOS devices, computers and some home audio products including Sonos speakers.

Follow Mike Snider on Twitter: @MikeSnider