There is no way that Apple is currently in acquisition talks with Tidal. Alright that came out wrong. What I mean is that it is not after Tidal for the reason you might think. Apple purchased Beats not for its headphones or even its music service. It was brought Beats for the talent and contacts that it had. Dr. Dre and Jimmy gave Apple instant credibility in the music industry. Which has arguably helped it get some exclusive albums before other services. Apple is looking to do the same things since Tidal is partly own by many A list artist. The streaming service would instantly bring Prince who was not a fan of the streaming services into the fold. Tidal is also the only service offering the catalog of the late pop star Prince because he had such a great relationship with Jay Z.
Speaking of Jay-Z; this deal would be a great win for him. He put down a pretty big chunk of his income into the service. If all goes well he could join fellow legend Dr. Dre in the billionaires club.
The Apple buy out would be great for Tidal who has experienced nothing short chaos and a management revolting door. They have had three chief executives in less than a year. Former chief business officer of SoundCloud Jeff Toig is the current CEO. If he could get this deal done. He would instantly be seen as doing better than his predecessors. Let us not forget that Apple has deep pockets. If it really wants to take on Spotify a Tidal purchase would be a great way to do it. Apple could pickup Tidal; a business that is struggling for what it considers pocket change.