Jay Z: What industry is he trying to get into now?

Expect Jay Z to make an exciting announcement very soon.

Shareholders have reportedly approved his purchase of the European streaming company called Aspiro. Word is just beginning to leak that Jay will be getting into digital services, and has secretly been crafting a master plan with a dozen other artists.

According to Roger Friedman of Showbiz 411, Jay Z convened a secret meeting in Los Angeles during Grammy week to propose launching a “renegade streaming service” to challenge Spotify, iTunes, Pandora, and YouTube. On hand was a Who’s Who of entertainers starting with Jay and Beyonce. Also Kanye West, Nikki Minaj, Rihanna, Daft Punk, Chris Martin of Coldplay, Madonna, rocker Jack White, and a pair of country musicians. Plus a gaggle of lawyers, many of them working for RocNation.

Jay’s dream is to build a digital service, re-branded as Tidal Hi-Fi, which would be for artists and by artists. The musicians would profit better than the royalty payments paid by the other digital site. Though, to be clear, at the moment Jay owns a majority interest in Aspiro, via his Project Panther Bidco that is subsidiary of S. Carter Enterprises.

Jay is apparently looking for the unstoppable momentum that these dozen A-list artists would bring as they build the site from the ground floor.

Quickies:

Now we have a better clue about why Taylor Swift was so emphatic about “Brunch” with Jay. Is she looking to invest, too? We know she has a beef with Spotify.

Jay would be challenging friendly forces, including Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine at Beats Music, Vevo, and several record labels that these artists already are signed to.

How did all these A-list stars cram into the same place without anyone taking notice? Apparently Jay chose an off-the-beaten-path area of Los Angeles called Eagle Rock.

photo via myspace