Apple not interested in purchasing Jay Z's struggling Tidal streaming service

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Amid documents that show Jay Z's music streaming service Tidal is hemorrhaging money, Apple Music chief Jimmy Iovine said there are no plans for a merger.

"We're really running our own race," Iovine told BuzzFeed News. "We're not looking to acquire any streaming services."

Rumors of Apple's supposed interest in the company sprang to life in June, though no one from the technology giant had officially commented on them until now.

In July Kanye West, who owns stake in Tidal, urged Apple Music to finalize a deal with Jay Z and officially purchase Tidal.

"Apple give Jay his check for Tidal now and stop trying to act like you Steve," West tweeted.

Tidal, which competes with Apple and Spotify for streaming subscribers, has been steadily losing money since rapper and industry mogul Jay acquired the Swedish company in March 2015.

Since Jay Z and the elite group of equity owners like Beyoncé, Prince, Rihanna, Kanye, and Madonna took over, Tidal has been losing an average of $2.3 million per month.

Both Apple and Tidal are chasing Spotify in the subscriber race, with Spotify in the lead at 40 million. Apple Music has 17 million and Tidal reports 4.2 million.