WiMP (standing for "Wireless Music Player") was a music streaming service available on mobile devices, tablets, network players and computers. WiMP emphasized high-quality audio and offered music and podcasts for users to listen to. It was initially created as a high-fidelity streaming service aimed at audiophiles, offering music in high-resolution formats such as FLAC and ALAC.
WiMP was developed by Aspiro AB and the Norwegian music store chain Platekompaniet AS. It first launched in Norway in February, 2010. In 2013, it introduced a HiFi tier specializing in lossless audio playback using FLAC and ALAC formats.
On January 30, 2015, it was announced that Aspiro AB had been acquired by Project Panther Bidco Ltd., which is indirectly owned by S. Carter Enterprises, LLC. The company was controlled by Shawn Corey Carter, better known by his stage name, Jay-Z. Aspiro AB was sold for 464 million SEK, which was about â¬50 million or US $56 million. However, WiMP would later merge with Tidal under the Tidal name.
WiMP was funded by user subscriptions. As of 2012, WiMP was available in Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and Poland.
The service was also available in the U.S., Canada, the UK, Ireland, Finland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Turkey, where it was known as Tidal; and emphasized the high-fidelity lossless mode, but the other modes, "High" and "Normal," were also available. Tidal claims to have 80 million tracks.
The application was integrated with Last.fm, allowing a track to be "scrobbled."
WiMP gave access to a music library of some 25 million tracks. WiMP had local editors in each country it operated, offering local and international music and in-app magazines. WiMP also offered music videos, which were available for Android users.
WiMP was compatible with Android, iOS, Symbian, MeeGo, Windows Phone 7, and Windows Phone 8, as well as Squeezebox, Sonos, Simple Audio, Auralic, Teufel Audio and Bluesound.