They got 99 problems: Music stars aren't very good at tech startups

Before you make a beeline for Tidal, rapper Jay Z's new exclusive streaming service, hold your horses. Famous musicians haven't had a 100 per cent track record with technology projects in the recent past.

Jay Z's pitch last week asking people to pay double the price of competing services in exchange for higher-fidelity tracks and extra cash for artists isn't a lock.



Pop idols such as Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber are becoming prolific tech investors, and Bono has been particularly effective with his venture capital firm, Elevation Partners.

While a savvy star like Dr. Dre has proven that a musician can succeed in technology, the list of crossovers from music star to tech business savant falls off from there. Here are four celebrities who gave the tech thing a shot but haven't turned out to be the next Steve Jobs.

50 Cent



Noticing the success of his friend Dr. Dre at Beats Electronics, Fitty decided to get into tech. In 2011, he bought a majority stake in a rival headphone maker, renamed the company SMS Audio, and installed himself as chief executive officer. Despite the celebrity endorsement, the high-end headphones didn't quite make their mark.

Neil Young



The renowned folk musician's endorsement of a startup called Pono Music, which makes a portable music player capable of playing high-def audio files, helped it raise $6.23 million last year on the crowdfunding site Kickstarter. Despite Young's struggles as a startup founder, he's an unwavering critic of compressed audio. He said in 2012 that he had worked with Jobs at Apple on an iTunes-like service to sell high-fidelity tracks. In the new book Becoming Steve Jobs, a quote attributed to the Apple cofounder shows a not-always-amicable working relationship: "F--- Neil Young," he snapped, "and f--- his records."

Justin Timberlake



In 2011, he became a co-owner of Myspace, the social network that, in fact, still exists. Timberlake appeared onstage at a Myspace news conference in January 2013, and his face welcomed visitors to the redesigned website. Timberlake in a suit and bow tie hasn't been enough to revitalise the website that was once home to some of the worst design on the internet.

will.i.am



Intel named Will.i.am as the company's director of creative innovation in 2011, and last year 3D Systems made him chief creative officer for the 3D printer maker. Silicon Valley's favourite creative celebrity struck out on his own late last year with a startup called i.am+. Fast Company described i.am+'s first product, a smartwatch called Puls, as "stupid".