It looks like Spotify and Beats Music are about to get some competition in the music streaming game, as Jay Z has reportedly purchased Aspiro, which is a Scandinavian company that runs the streaming service WiMP. The deal was officially put into motion when Jay's company Project Partner placed a bid on the streaming company for a total of $56 million. The deal is now subject to a shareholder agreement, but it has reportedly already been unanimously recommended by the company's board of directors.
WiMP is currently a popular music streaming service that is available in a handful of European markets, though it's not known if Jay is planning to introduce the service in the United States. As part of the deal, Jay also acquired the streaming service Tidal, which is currently available stateside and is known for its superior level of sound quality compared to competitors. While Spotify continues to dominate this market, Apple has yet to announce their eventual plans for Beats Music, which they purchased as part of their larger deal for Beats last year, but shut down for the time being after the deal was done.
UPDATE 3/4/15: According to Billboard via a Swedish financial report, the minority shareholders of Aspiro are preparing to reject Jay Z's bid to purchase the company. The majority shareholders of the company unanimously accepted Jay's bid when it was first announced, and they will now have until later this month to figure the deal out.
[via Tech Crunch]
