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By Austen Hufford 

Sprint Corp. will buy one-third of Tidal, the streaming-music service run by rap mogul Jay Z, the latest content deal secured by a network provider.

The companies said Monday the deal will give Sprint customers access to exclusive content on Tidal, though they must still sign up and pay for the streaming service.

A Sprint spokeswoman said news about upcoming offers and promotions will be released soon.

Tidal's current management team will keep running the service and Sprint Chief Executive Marcelo Claure will join its board.

Terms of the deal weren't disclosed.

Jay Z bought the service in March 2015 for $56 million from Swedish company Aspiro, which had created the Tidal brand. He has given famous artists and bands small stakes in Tidal and promised each millions of dollars worth of marketing, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

Tidal has been struggling to attract subscribers to keep up with larger rivals such as Spotify AB and Apple Inc.'s Apple Music.

Sweden's Spotify has more than 40 million paying subscribers, while Apple Music in December boasted 20 million paying subscribers.

Last June, Tidal said it had expanded its user base to 4.2 million paying subscribers. Still, analysts have said Tidal's user base includes many listeners who signed up through a free trial, and the company hasn't released metrics since the June disclosure.

Earlier this month, industry tracker MiDia Research estimated Tidal had 1 million "commercially active subscribers."

Tidal has amassed many of its subscribers through exclusive releases from superstar artists such as Kanye West, Rihanna and Beyoncé, many of whom are connected to Jay Z.

It also promotes itself as more artist-friendly and provides high-quality, so-called lossless streaming.

Streaming music is the U.S. recorded-music industry's biggest revenue source, according to the Recording Industry Association of America.

Tidal parent Aspiro lost 239 million Swedish kronor ($28 million) in 2015 as it worked to expand its customer base and get music deals.

In the financial statement, Aspiro said a board assessment had concluded the company lacked funding for 2016 but added, "The board believes the company will be able to secure new financing."

Tidal charges $20 a month for a high-fidelity version of its 40 million-song catalog and $10 a month for download-quality sound.

Network service providers have been striking content deals to attract and retain new customers. AT&T Inc. made a deal with singer Taylor Swift to share exclusive videos with its customers. Verizon Wireless has a deal to stream NFL games to its customers.

Shares of Sprint rose 3.25% to $9.23 in midday trading on Monday.

Matthias Verbergt contributed to this article

Write to Austen Hufford at austen.hufford@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 23, 2017 13:12 ET (18:12 GMT)

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