Jay Z seems to thrive on controversies! After the one with NFL, he picks one on the international field. As Digital Music News (DMN) reports, TIDAL, the streaming service that is partially owned by the artist is threatening to undertake legal action against the government of Norway.
Why Norway? Tidal was founded in Norway, where there is an ongoing legal investigation against the service. The accusation is that the company “had manipulated listening statistics for a pair of albums that Tidal held exclusive rights over.” It is a matter of two albums – Beyonce’s Lemonade and Kanye West’s Life Of Pablo.
The Norwegians have a problem with the manner in which Tidal calculates royalty payments, because if the service manipulated how many times these two albums were played on the platform that would “adversely affect royalties for other artists” on Tidal. The accusations all started with a report in a Norwegian business newspaper, was picked up by the country’s copyright society, and ultimately ending up with “Okokrim,” the country’s economic crime unit.
Taking counteraction, Tidal engaged its Poland office, which is the one threatening legal action. Its says that “Okokrim’s investigation is not sufficiently justified and excessively aggressive, it violates an investment treaty that Norway and Poland have signed.”
If the case is not settled within six months it will be referred to an ad hoc international arbitration tribunal and to Norwegian courts at the same time.
