Jay Z's Tidal gets caught inflating the streaming numbers for Beyoncé’s “Lemonade” and Kanye West’s “Life of Pablo”, is now threatening to sue newspaper for … calling Jay Z a crack dealer?

89  2018-05-10 by HaulOfChina

Basically, what has happened is that some years ago Jay Z bought the music streaming service Wimp for a big stack of cash and rebranded it as Tidal. They promised to deliver higher quality audio and to pay a greater share of their income back to the artist than their competitors. They entered a though field competing with Apple, Google, Amazon and Spotify. Things haven't been going well for them, and they’ve been reported to have lost close to $100 million.

However things were looking up for them when "Lemonade" and "Life of Pablo" dropped, as both exclusives were massive hits. You might remember the craze around 'Lemonade' and its success and unbelievable high streaming numbers. Turns out they were just that, unbelievable. Both 'Lemonade and 'Life of Pablo'’s streaming numbers for the first months after their release has likely been more than doubled by making fake user records.

With the earnings being distributed to artist according to number streams this means that Kanye Wets and Beyoncé, both co-owners, kind of scammed themselves into a bigger piece of the pie. Also, many music charts account for streaming numbers now, so they basically to an extent cheated themselves into the earnings that goes with good chart placements as well. Not exactly a good look for a company based on giving more back to struggling artists, and unsurprisingly a lot of people are mad.

Now Tidal’s lawyers are threatening to sue the paper publishing the story. One of the things they threatened to sue the paper for was deformation. This is because they made the outrageous claim that Jay Z has been a drug dealer in the past (lol). They were also accused of antisemitism because they mentioned that some guy working for Tidal has a history in Israeli intelligence services.

Will Tidal ever recover?

Article:

Music Business Word article (accusations of smear campaigns, fake news, and more in the comments)

Twitter:

Tidal statement with accusations of defamation in follow up tweet, bunch of Worker Bs defending Queen B in the replies

Lemme educate y’all this fine morning! (twitter-mathematician shows up to tell you how Bernie still can win this!.)

HIGH quality journalism about some other twitter posts

Reddit:

/r/popheads: "to be fair, jay-z is/was a crack dealer." turns into a discussion about racisim and Kim Kardashian's porn tape.

/r/The_Donald provides some valuable insight (What nefarious movement is (((Jay Z))) really part of?)

/r/hiphopheads thread sorted by controversial because I’m lazy.

/r/Music sorted by controversial (pretty boring TBH, sorry ☹)

Report from university:

Link to report for nerds.

46 comments

1  SnapshillBot 2018-05-10

Have you posted bussy yet?

Snapshots:

  1. This Post - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is

  2. Music Business Word article (accusa... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  3. Tidal statement with accusations of... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  4. Lemme educate y’all this fine morni... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  5. HIGH quality journalism about some ... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

  6. /r/popheads: "to be fair, jay-z is/... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is

  7. /r/The_Donald provides some valuabl... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is

  8. /r/hiphopheads thread sorted by con... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is

  9. /r/Music sorted by controversial (p... - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, removeddit.com, archive.is

  10. Link to report for nerds. - archive.org, megalodon.jp*, archive.is

I am a bot. (Info / Contact)

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

Nobody has asked me 😞

1  DistortedLines 2018-05-10

Post it

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

No 😏 it’s nice to be asked though 😘

1  Keep_Yourself_Safe 2018-05-10

😠

1  POST_BUSSY 2018-05-10

1  GeauxHouston22 2018-05-10

the way these fucking clams flock to defend beyonce, it's a wonder she hasn't started some kind of religion yet. she could make a KILLING off black women who look at her as if she's the messiah and would follow her off the face of cliff

1  shanewater 2018-05-10

Fun fact: If you discount every other influential black artist you'll find that Beyonce is the most influential black artist of all time!

1  jaredschaffer27 2018-05-10

Boy don't even try to touch this

Boy this beat is crazy

This is how they made me

Houston Texas baby

This goes out to all my girls

That's in the club rocking the latest

Who will buy it for themselves

And get more money later

Oscar Wilde, eat your heart out

1  Chicup 2018-05-10

One of the things they are threatened to sue the paper for is deformation.

Must be a California thing...

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

Wow, what an abortin of a sentence, I'll fix it lol.

1  hendo144 2018-05-10

What is even funnier is that it is in Norway. The courts here would fucking laugh at such a case. This isnt America where you sue people for defamation over two sentences. Can’t wait.

1  watermark02 2018-05-10

Technically it's pretty difficult to win a libel case in America, but since you have to pay expensive lawyer fees to defend yourself even if the other sides case is baseless, people still often do it just to silence their critics even if they don't intend to win.

1  geraldo42 2018-05-10

lmao what. I don't know how you're so mistaken about US laws but the United States has some of strongest freedom of the press protections (if not the strongest) in the world. It's very very hard to successfully sue someone for defamation. You need to sue them in civil court and have to prove not only that what they said was false but that they knew it was false or acted with negligence and then you have to prove damages. Let's contrast that with Norway, a country that will literally put you in prison for defamation. :thinking:

1  waldemar_the_dragon 2018-05-10

No it does not.

1  HorrorElection 2018-05-10

Wtf are you talking about?

1  hendo144 2018-05-10

im not even sure

1  Chicup 2018-05-10

The nerd who discovered this should have sent a letter to JayZ explaining how they needed a bigger bank account.

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

I think the first ones did. There were 3 data analytics that suddenly quit after Lemonade was released, and now they are under serious non-disclosure agreements. One of them has moved to Italy and threatened to call the police when a journalist tried to talk to him. The original article is much better than the one I linked, with videos and lots of data, but it is in Norwegian :(

1  Chicup 2018-05-10

Now THAT would be good drama if that comes out.

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

I'm hoping there is more to come. The data is clearly manipulated, and Tidal threathening to sue both the paper publishing the story and the university doing the data analysis seems pretty desperate. I'd be suprised if the other artists on the platform don't sue for lost revenue. I thought there would be more buzz about it tbh.

1  geraldo42 2018-05-10

Why would other artists have lost revenue? Beyonce and Kanye getting paid more doesn't affect them does it?

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

Thats true. A representative from the musicians union kept saying that it had caused financial loss to other artists and that they could sue, so I assumed that he knew his shit. It looks like he was talking about the music industry as a whole though, and that Tidal pays 0.007 cents per play. If anything it seems like they have cheated the investors, but thats kind of moving the goal posts I guess.

Fake news, and I'll до свидания myself.

1  mikkjel 2018-05-10

I thought part of the scandal was that it changed what real accounts listened to and that money is divided proportiobally? I could swear I read about some reverse robin hood stuff.

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

It was a sub-headline in the DN article, but it didn't really go into detail. There is a guy from FONO who's talking about lost revenue, and some lady from Brussels who says Tidal needs to reimburse the other artist. They might just have commented right of the bat though, IDK.

If there isn't some payment scheme like what you mentioned, then the best argument that I can think of for this hurting other artist is that the manipulation is pushing the prices down in the industry as a whole, by justifying the low payment for smaller artist and then faking the numbers for the big names so that they still can make bank.

1  JumbledFun 2018-05-10

/u/CuckedByTRUMP do you honestly believe that spirit cooking nonsense or are you just meming. Hard to tell with you lot these days with all the Q wannabe holy warriors running around

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

Brah, unless you want to get redpilled don't @ me. I got sources. LIBERAL SOURCES.

Jay has actually worked with the spirit cooking lady at her shows.

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TgIi-g5vNK8

Now is spirit cooking real and real weird?

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/nov/4/wikileaks-john-podesta-invited-to-spirit-dinner-ho/

A new WikiLeaks release of stolen emails belonging to Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman John Podesta reveal an invitation by his brother to a “Spirit Cooking dinner” at the home of artist Marina Abramovic.

“Spirit Cooking with Essential Aphrodisiac Recipes” was released by Ms. Abramovic in 1996, but the “ingredients” call for “fresh breast milk with fresh sperm milk” to be consumed “on earthquake nights.”

New York’s Museum of Modern Art called it a “cookbook” for “evocative instructions for actions or thoughts.” Another recipe calls for “fresh morning urine.”

Okay so the cooking is weird. Now let's find out if these people actual attend meals where they eat this stuff...

“Are you in NYC Thursday July 9 Marina wants you to come to dinner Mary?” Tony Podesta says in an email forwarded to his brother June 28, 2015.

“Dear Tony, I am so looking forward to the Spirit Cooking dinner at my place,” Ms. Abramovic says in a June 25 email sent at 2:35 a.m. GMT +2. “Do you think you will be able to let me know if your brother is joining? All my love, Marina.”

Link of the actual email that you can verify yourself: https://wikileaks.org/podesta-emails/emailid/15893

To sum this up:

  • Marina Abramovic published a book with recipes that called for semen and breast milk in her spirit cooking food.
  • Jay Z preforms at her shows.
  • Political elite eat her spirit cooking dinners with her in private home shows and not just public art shows.

Like I said, don't @ me unless you want to get redpilled. Wanna have some real fun? Copy this link and come back in a few months. I've seen sourced comments like mine evaporate from reddit's servers. Not deleted. Not removed. Disappeared.

1  HaulOfChina 2018-05-10

Holly shit, they just disapeared the part of your comment about comments dissapering.

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

No. I deleted that part because I don't feel like kicking reddit's beehive. I love the admins.

1  BussySundae 2018-05-10

Sounds like something an admin editing a message would say...

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

Well, spez did edit some users comments on T_D that one time... That's why our edit button says spez.

1  BussySundae 2018-05-10

/r/drama is aware and arrived at the consensus that Spez did something kind of cool in that specific act of admin abuse, despite being pretty lame as fuck otherwise.

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

Well he jeopardize any sort of russian collusion evidence by doing so. They can just say there account was edited by spez as a defence because he is anti Trump. A lawyer on our sub was talking about how he opened Reddit up to millions in damages, gave anyone who does anything illegal here an out, and opened his entire company up to discovery in almost any criminal case.

1  BussySundae 2018-05-10

This is wishful thinking.

1  ahbslldud 2018-05-10

I'm impressed by how retarded you guys are.

1  dogDroolsCatsRules 2018-05-10

Well he jeopardize any sort of russian collusion evidence by doing so. They can just say there account was edited by spez as a defence because he is anti Trump. A lawyer on our sub was talking about how he opened Reddit up to millions in damages, gave anyone who does anything illegal here an out, and opened his entire company up to discovery in almost any criminal case.

This is your brain on fenthanyl.

1  JumbledFun 2018-05-10

I'm curious, what's your career?

1  uniqueguy263 2018-05-10

Fun fact, the Washington Times is unironically owned by an insane cult called the Moonies

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

I'm curious, what's your career?

Self employed for over a decade. I am in advertising. I'm doing better than you, I promise. I get why you are asking. You want to know if I am "smart" or educated to your standards. You want to discredit what I have to say and are looking for an opening because you lost the actual discussion about whether or not spirit cooking is real. I made you look silly by actually sourcing things. That hurt your ego so you want to compare careers.

conservative leaning paper.

Ya coulda fooled me: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/304606-final-newspaper-endorsement-count-clinton-57-trump-2 I assume basically every news outlet is not a real news outlet including fox.

I don't get why you pedes are so obsessed with that Serbian performance artist

So it went from "do you really believe in spirit cooking" to "you are obsessed with a performance artist." Nice backpedal. You went from "how did you fall for that hoax" to "it's just art." Funny. Yea, I usually don't have home dinners to show off my art. Oh btw here just eat this jizz filled cupcake. It's just art. Quit being a pussy.

Bottom line: You got eviscerated with sources. Now you wanna talk about careers and play off how foolish you looked.

1  Ultimatex 2018-05-10

I'm doing better than you, I promise. I get why you are asking. You want to know if I am "smart" or educated to your standards. You want to discredit what I have to say and are looking for an opening because you lost the actual discussion about whether or not spirit cooking is real. I made you look silly by actually sourcing things. That hurt your ego so you want to compare careers

r/iamverysmart

1  CuckedByTRUMP 2018-05-10

None of you could debate on substance so your sub argues about if a paper is liberal and complain about me sounding condescending.

1  Karmaisforsuckers 2018-05-10

Dont type too loud, youll wake up your Mom. Your doublewide isnt well soundproofed.

1  Ultimatex 2018-05-10

Good lolcow.

1  UpvoteIfYouDare 2018-05-10

Nobody needs to question your lack of intelligence. You're just one more idiot that believes the cyclical political accusations of Satanism. A couple decades ago it was Reagan, the Bushes, the Bohemian Grove, and the Franklin Conspiracy. Today it's all this stupid shit about pizza parlors.

1  watermark02 2018-05-10

Calling the Washington Times a liberal paper is retarded.

Oh btw here just eat this jizz filled cupcake. It's just art. Quit being a pussy.

The recipes in the book weren't actually intended to be made, that's why they had bizarre ingredients you autist.

1  JumbledFun 2018-05-10

No no she's the head Satanist priest eating children. Not some out there performance artist who does provocative things on purpose

1  shallowm 2018-05-10

Ya coulda fooled me: http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/presidential-races/304606-final-newspaper-endorsement-count-clinton-57-trump-2

That article doesn't even mention the Washington Times.

They endorsed McCain in 2008 and Romney in 2012. Here's their editorial for the 2016 election.

coulda fooled me, boyo 😎

1  JumbledFun 2018-05-10

Lol you honestly believe in this cannibal pedo cult don't you? Yikes dude

1  ahbslldud 2018-05-10

My nigga, he was asking if you thought "spirit cooking" was some insane satanic pedophile conspiracy theory that actually involves Jay z, not whether some kooky performance artist did some kooky but entirely inconsequential performance art two decades ago. Your sources show the latter but you seem to be screeching about the former because you're an authentic nutjob.

1  BumwineBaudelaire 2018-05-10

wait are you telling me this crack dealer runs his record company dishonestly