Jay-Z’s subscription music streaming service Tidal is being criminally investigated in Norway over allegations that it intentionally inflated listening numbers.
Tidal is under investigation by Norway’s economic crimes unit, Okokrim, after local media reports claimed the service puffed up its streaming numbers for artists such as Beyoncé and Kanye West.
“It has been made known through media coverage that the reports relate to Tidal’s streaming service and a suspicion that someone has manipulated the number of plays of some songs,” Økokrim Attorney Elisabeth Harbo-Lervik said Monday.
Tidal has not been charged in the investigation, according to the music service’s lawyer Fredrik Berg.
The streaming service, which began as a Norwegian startup called Wimp, has denied any wrongdoing.
“Tidal is not a suspect in the investigation,” a rep from Tidal said. “We are communicating with Okokrim. From the very beginning, [local newspaper] Dagens Næringsliv has quoted documents that they have not shared with us in spite of repeated requests. DN has repeatedly made claims based on information we believe may be falsified. We are aware that at least one person we suspected of theft has been questioned.”
A lawsuit filed last May by groups working for Norwegian artists and record labels said the alleged fraud had deprived other artists of their fair share of royalties.
At the time, Tidal said that West’s album “Life of Pablo” had been streamed 250 million times in its first 10 days of release in February 2016, while claiming it had just 3 million subscribers. That would have meant that every subscriber played the album an average of eight times a day.
The company said that Beyoncé’s album “Lemonade” was streamed 306 million times in its first 15 days of release in April 2016.
Both claims caused Dagens Næringsliv to begin investigating Tidal for trumped-up numbers.
HOUSTON, TX - SEPTEMBER 15: Beyonce (L) and Jay-Z perform onstage during the "On the Run II" Tour at NRG Stadium on September 15, 2018 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kevin Winter/PW18/Getty Images for Parkwood Entertainment)
In 2014, Jay-Z acquired Tidal for $56 million from Norwegian media firm Schibsted ASA, and a year later, he introduced fellow artists such as Rihanna and Alicia Keys as co-owners.
Tidal was meant to provide artists a greater share of the proceeds from streaming than rival popular streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music. But Tidal has been unable to meaningfully grow its customer base.
A year after buying Tidal, Jay-Z sent a letter to its previous owners, accusing them of overstating subscriber numbers at the time of the deal.
In 2017, Sprint bought a 33 percent stake in Tidal, following reports that the company was in talks with Apple about a sale, according to reports.
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