Rumor Fact(ory): L.A. Reid/Sony may be buying a stake in Rhapsody

L.A. ReidL.A. Reid may be making a bid for shares of Rhapsody. The chairman and CEO of Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment, is allegedly working with a private equity investment group to purchase a large share of the streaming platform. The news comes from the New York Post’s Page Six column. According to one of the unnamed sources, Reid has “received a waiver from Sony to personally buy into Rhapsody, but industry talk is that Sony is basically going to own a large piece of Rhapsody.”

This wouldn’t be entirely unprecedented, as Sony and the other major labels already hold small stakes in Spotify. And Jay-Z, who is also a very successful musician, has assumed ownership of the hi-fi streaming service Tidal. Further rumors surrounding Rhapsody implied that Jay-Z and his Tidal streaming service were interested pursuing a partnership, although no deal was reached.

Anna Washenko