In the fight for “digital music dominance,” is Apple’s next big play to purchase streaming music service Tidal?

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Rumor has it that Apple is in discussion with Jay-Z fronted streaming service Tidal over a possible acquisition. “Though it might not completely tilt the competitive scales in its favor, Apple Music would benefit by purchasing Tidal. In assuming Tidal’s role as the preferred destination for music aficionados, Apple Music could further find a means of differentiating itself from Spotify.”

Tidal, while facing other issues (including a pending lawsuit on privacy), has done a good job of differentiating itself in a crowded market by positioning itself as the service of choice for top musicians like Kanye West and Beyonce (which have given Tidal exclusive rights to their new music).

“Tidal has also developed a positive reputation among musicians thanks to the service’s high-quality sound and subscription-only business model.”

“For context, paid subscription business models are the unequivocal future of the streaming music industry. What little publicly available data we have about Spotify, the industry’s largest player in terms of free and paying users, suggests its paying subscribers generate over 22 times as much revenue as free ad-supported users. So purchasing Tidal seems like a clear win for Apple and a loss for competitors such as Spotify and Pandora.”

To learn more about subscription models, check out our free guide to 9 Keys to Building a Successful Subscription Business.