Apple is in talks to buy Jay Z's Tidal, the streaming music service owned by musician Jay Z, the Wall Street Journal reported. The paper said the talks are preliminary and that may not result in a deal. Apple and Tidal declined to comment on the report.

Acquiring the smaller competitor might give Apple access to exclusive streaming content from artists ranging from Beyonce to Rihanna.

Earlier this tear, Tidal trumped Apple in securing the rights to be the first to stream Kanye West’s latest album "The Life of Pablo."

Tidal said in March it had more than 3 million paying subscribers, less than Apple’s 15 million and Spotify AB’s 30 million.