A little over a year after it was acquired and re-vamped by Jay Z, Tidal is the subject of a reported takeover bid from Apple, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

The tech giant is reportedly interested in acquiring the streaming platform because of its strong ties to massive pop artists like Kanye West, Beyonce and Madonna. A source told the newspaper that Apple were conducting “exploratory talks” only at this point, and that they may not eventually result in a deal.

Jay ZJay Z's Tidal is reportedly the subject of a takeover bid from Apple

However, a spokesperson for Tidal denied that they had been approached by Apple, or anybody else, when reached for comment, according to the article.

American rap icon Jay Z teamed up with a host of big-name artists in March 2015 to re-launch Tidal, after he had bought out its owners, Swedish tech company Aspiro, for $56 million. He and his wife Beyonce, plus a host of other stakeholders, had conceived of Tidal as an alternative to Spotify with better royalties for artists.

More: Beyonce, Jay Z and Rachel Roy all seen attending the same event following ‘Lemonade’ drama

It offers users a subscription-only service (which Apple Music has subsequently followed), with a $10 per month tier giving standard-quality audio, or a higher $20 per month tier with high-fidelity sound quality on a +40 million song catalogue.

One of its other main selling points at this moment is that it’s the only platform to offer access to the back catalogue of the late pop star Prince. For a while, it also offered exclusive access to Kanye West's The Life of Pablo, and is still only place to find Beyonce's Lemonade.

Although Tidal has a reputation for being artist-friendly, it hasn’t quite generated the revenue it had predicted because of its relatively low subscriber numbers. It has also experienced a degree of higher management turmoil, with three CEOs in place in a little over 15 months.

More: Rita Ora and Jay Z settle contract dispute over record deal