Tidal says he is investigating how an internal data breach of the company's sensitive data resulted in a hard drive falling into the hands of a Norwegian newspaper, according to Variety . The newspaper, Norwegian business publication Dagens Næringsliv accused the music broadcasting service last week of inflating its subscriber growth numbers and broadcast numbers for exclusive popular releases, including Beyoncé Lemonade and Kanye West The life of Paul . Allegedly, the data showing that the numbers were inflated was found on a hard drive that the document obtained through means that were not disclosed.
Tidal is contesting the allegations, but now he's also saying he's investigating how the company's confidential data could have reached a hard drive that was later turned over to the newspaper. "We reject and deny the claims made by Dagens Næringsliv ," Tidal's CEO Richard Snaders said in a statement Variety . "When we learn of a potential data breach, immediately, and aggressively, we begin to look for multiple avenues available to discover what happened."
Tidal says he is informed by the appropriate authorities and has begun to follow legal action. The company has also hired a third-party cybersecurity firm to "conduct a review of what happened and help us further protect the security and integrity of our data."
Therefore, we do not necessarily know if all the data obtained by Dagens Næringsliv is legitimate, and while it is true that Tidal is inflating his numbers. But it seems that the database partly involves information that Tidal does not want public. According to Variety Tidal, who often does not share numbers publicly, except in cases where he wants to promote successful exclusive releases, recorded hard-to-believe numbers for Lemonade and Life of Pablo, among other albums. For example, Tidal claimed that West's album recorded 250 million broadcasts in the first 10 days after launch with only 3 million subscribers, which means that each subscriber listened to the album in its entirety on average eight times a day.
The most likely case here is that Tidal is saying that the data are incomplete or that they are misinterpreted by Dagens Næringsliv but we are not sure for sure without the data being public and without Tidal commenting on what parts of the treasure are legitimate Here is Sanders' statement to Variety in its entirety:
We reject and deny the claims made by Dagens Næringsliv. Although we do not usually comment on stories that we believe are false, we believe it is important to make sure that our artists, employees and subscribers know that we are not taking the safety and integrity of our data lightly, and will not endorse it. our commitment to them.
When we learn of a possible data breach, immediately, and aggressively, we begin to look for multiple available ways to discover what happened. This included informing the appropriate authorities, taking legal action and taking proactive measures to further strengthen our strict security measures that are already in force.
In addition, we have hired an independent cybersecurity firm to conduct a review of what happened and help us further protect the security and integrity of our data. We are proud of the hard work, the dedication to our mission driven by artists and the enormous achievements of our more than one hundred employees in Norway and fifty more in the United States.
We hope to share with you and all our partners, the results of the review once completed.