Universal denies Tidal's 'ridiculous and false' claim that the major label caused the system error that resulted in the album's early arrival last week.
- Feb 3, 2016
AceShowbiz - The drama surrounding Rihanna's "Anti" isn't over yet even after it was officially released last week. If fans remember, the entire album was accidentally made available on Tidal ahead of schedule, and now the service is blaming the singer's label Universal Music group for it.
While discussing the album and how it's impacted by the leak, Tidal's director of marketing Grace Kim told Spin recently that the project's premature arrival was a result of "a system error" that another representative for Tidal claimed was caused by Universal.
"[Kim's] referring to a system error caused by Universal Music Group. The error was not something Tidal caused," said the rep.
Universal, however, refuses to take the blame. An anonymous senior exec at the major's US HQ told Business Music Worldwide that Tidal's claim "is both ridiculous and false." The exec added, "We delivered the content exactly to their specs. It's something we do every day on a global basis. They are trying to pass blame for their own incompetence."
In her interview with Spin, Kim also stated that the leak didn't seem to significantly affect "Anti". It garnered more than a million downloads and was immediately certified Platinum by the RIAA in only hours after it was surprise-dropped last Wednesday. "1.4 million in not 24 hours but 15 hours... That's a really big deal for us," said Kim.
