The same publication that was slammed by Tidal last week for accusing them of manipulating Beyoncé and Kanye West’s streaming numbers has released a new accusation.
According to a report form Music Business Worldwide, who also reported on the manipulation claims, Norwegian publication Dagens Næringsliv ran a story Wednesday alleging that the streaming service is "significantly behind" on its royalty payments to rights-holders. Specifically, the report claims, Tidal is behind on payouts to three major record companies.
"It is correct that there are delays in payments from Tidal," Sveinung Rindal, CEO of the Sony-backed Phonofile, reportedly said.
Though Tidal has not yet committed on this latest report, they previously characterized the publication's general tactics as a calculated attempt at sullying their reputation. "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,'" a rep said after the stats manipulation claims were made. "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."
Dagens Næringsliv later doubled down, claiming that Tidal had reduced payments to artists from 62.5 percent to 55 percent.
Tidal's next big moves is the release of Prince's first posthumous album, due in 2019.
"Our only goal is to share Prince's music with his fans as he wanted," Jay Z said when announcing the project. "After thoughtful and honest conversation with him, he chose Tidal as his partner for HITnRUN Phase One and HITnRUN Phase Two, and we will continue to respect and honor Prince's enduring legacy and wishes with this new collection."
