Report: Jay-Z’s Tidal ‘Months Behind’ on Payments, Rumors of Artists ‘Withdrawing’

Jay-Z’s Spotify and Apple Music competitor Tidal is reportedly “months behind” on payments to record labels.

According to a report, Tidal is “behind with payments directly to the three major international record companies,” with “two executives from a label and its Sony-owned distributor” claiming they “have not seen royalty payments in over six months.”

Some people are even reportedly “talking about withdrawing” music from the platform.

“It is correct that there are delays in payments from Tidal,” declared Phonofile CEO Sveinung Rindal, while Propeller Recordings CEO Frithjof Boye Hungnes claimed, “We have not been paid since October.”

“I think there is a pretty upset mood,” Hungnes added.

This month, Tidal was also accused of falsifying streaming numbers — inflating numbers for prominent artists such as Beyoncé and Kanye West “to potentially make the company appear more profitable or increase royalty payments to the artists at the expense of others on the service.”

Following Tidal’s launch in late 2014, it quickly flopped, and in 2015 alone, Tidal lost $28 million.

However, despite their financial problems, Tidal donated $1.5 million to Black Lives Matter and other social justice movements in 2016.