 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Music |
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founders | Jörgen Adolfsson Christer Månsson Klas Hallqvist |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served | Worldwide |
Key people | Andy Chen (
CEO) Chris Hart ( CFO) |
| Products |
Tidal WiMP (defunct) |
Number of employees | 120 |
| Parent | Block, Inc. (86.8%) [1] |
| Website | aspiro.com |
Aspiro AB was a Norwegian-based, legally Swedish-domiciled technology company founded in 1998. The company mainly provided subscription-based lossless music streaming services under its two brands, Tidal and WiMP. The company was headquartered in Norway, with additional offices in Poland, Sweden, Denmark, and Germany.
As of the end of December 2014, Aspiro's music streaming services had 500,000 paying customers. [2]
History
Aspiro AB was founded in 1998 by Jörgen Adolfsson, Christer Månsson, and Klas Hallqvist, who were colleagues in the mobile phone industry, initially at the Swedish mobile phone company Europolitan. The three founded Aspiro after observing the impact of the Wireless Application Protocol on mobile communication while they were working at Telenor Mobil's Value-Creating Services division in Oslo. [3] The company originally focused on many different mobile technologies not limited to music streaming.
The company made its initial public offering on the Stockholm Stock Exchange's New Market in May 2000 and later began trading on the main market in June 2001. In 2009, the company developed its first music streaming service, which eventually became its core business. [4]
In January 2015, Aspiro received a $56 million takeover bid from Project Panther Bidco Ltd., a company indirectly owned by rapper and businessman Jay-Z. [5] [6] Despite some opposition from minority shareholders who believed the bid undervalued Aspiro's growth potential, the acquisition was accepted by over 90 percent of the shareholders and was finalized in March 2015. [7] [8] [9] Subsequently, the music streaming services WiMP and Tidal merged under the Tidal name. [10] [1] [11]
References
- ^ a b "Square, Inc. Announces Plans to Acquire Majority Ownership Stake in TIDAL".
- ^ "Aspiro reports user numbers for January". Cision. 2015-02-09. Retrieved 2015-03-13.
- ^ Jan-Eric Öhman (2000-02-22). "Born Mobile" (PDF). Enablers. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ^ "Schibsted's Offer to the Shareholders in Aspiro AB" (PDF). Schibsted. 2012-01-17. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ^ Sisario, Ben (2015-03-13). "Jay Z Buys the Music Streaming Firm, Aspiro". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-10-17.
- ^ Leonard, Devin (2015-05-28). "That's Business, Man: Why Jay Z's Tidal Is a Complete Disaster". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2019-07-28.
- ^ "Schibsted ASA (SCH) – Schibsted accepts an offer from Project Panther Bidco to acquire Aspiro". Schibsted. 2014-01-30. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ^ "Jay Z's $56 Million Bid for Aspiro Undervalues Company, Say Shareholders". Billboard. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ^ "Jay Z Buys the Music Streaming Firm, Aspiro". NY Times. 2013-03-13. Retrieved 2015-03-14.
- ^ "Wimp and Tidal services merge | Digital | Music Week".
- ^ "Document". www.sec.gov. Retrieved 2022-09-01.