Square, Inc. is buying a majority stake in Jay-Z’s Tidal streaming service

Square, Inc., the financial services company founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, is acquiring a majority stake in Tidal, the high-fidelity audio and video streaming service led by Jay-Z. Square is paying $297 million in cash and stock for a “significant majority ownership stake” and says Tidal will operate independently alongside Square’s other ventures.

Asking the obvious question in a thread on Twitter, Dorsey said: “Why would a music streaming company and a financial services company join forces?!” His answer: to find “new ways for artists to support their work.” Just as Square gave sellers new tools to make money, Dorsey says the company’s stake in Tidal will help artists find similar support in the new digital ecosystem.