The City roundup video: Jay Z expands empire with Aspiro acquisition

Video: Alex Lawson provides a run-down of the day's major news from the City

Jay Z, here performing in LA on Monday, encouraged fans to follow their dreams in a tribute to Nelson Mandela (Getty Images)

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Arguably the globe’s biggest hip-hop star, Jay Z, expanded his business empire today with the acquisition of Aspiro.

The Swedish company owns music streaming site Wimp and the its purchase will cost Jay Z around £30 million.

Wimp currently has 500,000 subscribers, who have access to more than 25 million tracks.

Jay Z sets himself a significant challenge in taking on the might of Spotify which has fantastic global brand penetration, a strong line-up of artists and simple software.

What is most interesting is that Panther highlights the opportunity for artists to promote their music – perhaps this is the first sign of artists taking control of how their output is marketed and hitting back at Spotfiy, which has been criticised by the likes of Taylor Swifts for its poor returns to artists.