(CelebrityAccess) – Music Week today has obtained a statement from TIDAL following explosive accusations made by Norwegian newspaper Dagens Næringsliv yesterday that the streaming service deliberately manipulated its data “to the tune of several hundred million false plays.”
DN’s central claim is that the manipulation was specifically targeted toward Kanye West’s The Life of Pablo and Beyonce’s Lemonade.
The statement reads: “This is a smear campaign from a publication that once referred to our employee as an ‘Israeli Intelligence officer’ and our owner as a ‘crack dealer’. We expect nothing less from them than this ridiculous story, lies and falsehoods. The information was stolen and manipulated and we will fight these claims vigorously.”
If the accusations prove true, there will be some major questions about the impact the manipulation had on the chart positioning of both albums (Lemonade went on to reach the No. 1 spot on the Billboard 200), not to mention the massive royalty payouts both artists would have received.
