Apple Music boss Jimmy Iovine has dismissed rumours that the company is looking to buy the Jay Z-owned streaming service Tidal.
There had been speculation that Apple were interested in purchasing one of their direct competitors, after a Wall Street Journal report in June alleged that Apple were “in talks” to acquire Tidal, who have housed exclusives from the likes of Kanye West and Beyoncé in the past year.
However, speaking to Buzzfeed News, Iovine was keen to dismiss rumours about a purchase.
“We’re really running our own race,” Jimmy Iovine clarified. “We’re not looking to acquire any streaming services.”
Jay Z purchased Tidal from Swedish company Aspiro for $56.2 million (£42.3m) in January 2015. The new-look Tidal was unveiled with a now-infamous launch event involving an all-star cast of ‘artist-owners’ including Kanye, Beyoncé, Madonna and Daft Punk.
In terms of current subscriber figures, Tidal (4.2 million) is quite far behind both Apple Music (17 million) and Spotify (40 million).