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Sprint Corp

Sprint to acquire stake in music service Tidal

Brett Molina
USA TODAY

Sprint will acquire a 33% stake in Tidal, the streaming music service owned by rap mogul Jay Z, the wireless carrier announced Monday.

Sprint opened a pop-up store next to a Verizon retailer to compete directly with the cell phone provider.

The deal is part of a partnership between the two companies where Sprint customers will receive exclusive content for customers who subscribe to Tidal. Sprint did not say when the acquisition would be complete.

"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," said Sprint CEO Marcelo Claure in a statement.

Sprint says the artist-owners who run Tidal will continue to run the streaming music service as before. Artists involved in the venture, including Alicia Keys, Kanye West and Madonna, each own 3% equity in Tidal, while Jay Z owns the remainder.

The service hosted several albums exclusively before reaching other streaming platforms, such as the Beyoncé album Lemonade released last year.

Sprint says more details on exclusive offers from Tidal will be announced soon.

Sprint joins other wireless carriers pushing for exclusive content deals and acquisitions to attract new wireless customers. Following its acquisition of DirecTV, AT&T offers packages including wireless plans with mobile access to DirecTV programming. Meanwhile, Verizon boasts streaming partnerships with sports leagues including the NBA and NFL.

Despite the artist exclusives, Tidal has struggled to keep up with bigger rivals including Apple Music and Spotify. Last year, Jay Z filed a lawsuit against Tidal's previous owners claiming they inflated subscriber numbers.

Last summer, Tidal was the subject of acquisition rumors following a report Apple would scoop up the music service to bolster Apple Music.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

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