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Tidal Is Reportedly Months Behind On Royalty Payments To Labels (theverge.com)
According to a report from Dagens Naeringsliv, streaming service Tidal is "behind with payments directly to the three major international record companies." The claim is backed up by two executives from a label and its Sony-owned distributor. They say they have not seen royalty payments in over six months. The Verge reports: According to a translation by Music Business Worldwide, Sveinung Rindal, CEO of distribution company Phonofile (a Sony subsidiary), told the Norwegian paper, "It is correct that there are delays in payments from Tidal," while Frithjof Boye Hungnes, CEO of Propeller Recordings, confirmed, "We have not been paid since October ... People are talking about withdrawing [their music from Tidal]; I think there is a pretty upset mood." Last December, a separate report from the same newspaper said that Tidal was running out of money, suggesting that it only had about six months of working capital left. The news comes shortly after the service was accused of faking the streaming numbers for Kanye West and Beyonce. Tidal is denying any such wrongdoings, saying: "We have experienced negative stories about Tidal since its inception and we have done nothing but grow the business each year."
I want to hate someone involved here, but am not sure who the bad guy is.
On one side is the odious Jay Z and his stupid music service which seems have misreported the sales of the corporate shill Beyonce and the mentally unwell Kanye West, presumably in order to make them more money. (Although I am not sure how that would work).
On the other hand there is the music industry cartel who will be desperate for Tidal to fail, despite never coming up with an original thought themselves.
Maybe I will just continue to hate them all and also continue to withhold my money from all of them.