{"id":208555,"date":"2025-06-11T19:07:37","date_gmt":"2025-06-12T02:07:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/?p=208555"},"modified":"2025-06-25T09:31:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-25T16:31:10","slug":"exclusive-10-million-streaming-fraud-case-ties-to-jay-z-tidal-and-roc-nation-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shockya.com\/news\/2025\/06\/11\/exclusive-10-million-streaming-fraud-case-ties-to-jay-z-tidal-and-roc-nation-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"EXCLUSIVE: $10 Million Streaming Fraud Case Ties to Jay-Z, Tidal, and Roc Nation – PART 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fat Joe, Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, DJ Khaled, and Shawn Carter AKA Jay-Z at Khaled’s 2022 Hollywood Walk of Fame Ceremony<\/a>. Inset: Tidal, Michael Smith charged with a three count federal criminal indictment, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

EXCLUSIVE<\/strong>: Roc Nation<\/strong> insider<\/strong> reveals ties between Jay-Z, Roc Nation<\/strong>, Tidal, Sound Royalties<\/strong>, and indicted streaming fraudster, Michael Smith<\/strong>. Our investigation delves deeply into how Michael Smith <\/strong>benefited Jay-Z’s Tidal<\/strong>, Smith’s alleged opioid trafficking connections, <\/strong>and how Roc Nation<\/strong> hid their management of Tidal <\/strong>in order to unfairly boost their own artists<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

We spoke to the music industry insider<\/strong>, on the condition of anonymity, about what they witnessed while working at Roc Nation<\/strong>. They spoke to us about the secret inner dealings<\/strong> between Roc Nation<\/strong>, their music-streaming service Tidal<\/strong>, and the role of alleged music streaming fraudster, Michael Smith<\/strong>. Among the evidence<\/strong> is internal<\/strong> emails from Roc Nation executives <\/strong>showcasing the collusion.<\/p>\n

The $10 million music fraud scheme<\/strong>, resulted in Michael Smith’s three count federal indictment<\/a><\/strong> in September, 2024. <\/strong>The scheme allegedly revolves around music streaming fraud, <\/strong>aided by artificial intelligence <\/strong>and bots. <\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Smith<\/strong>, curiously enough, is now being repped<\/a> by Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs attorneys<\/strong>, Anna Estevao<\/strong> and Justine Harris<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Roc Nation Was Running Music Streaming Service Tidal<\/em><\/h2>\n

The insider stated, “They never wanted anyone to know Roc Nation was managing Tidal<\/strong>. The implication being that Roc Nation’s ownership<\/strong> and management<\/strong> of Tidal<\/strong>, created an unfair monopoly and favoritism for Roc Nation artists<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n

Jay-Z<\/strong> purchased the streaming service Tidal<\/strong> in 2015, <\/strong>with scandals<\/strong> plaguing<\/strong> it ever since. Tidal’s<\/strong> launch<\/a> showcased “16 artist stakeholders,”<\/strong> front and center. The message was clear. Tidal’s music streaming service was supposed to give artists a piece of the financial pie. Then the police investigations<\/strong> started.<\/p>\n

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Tidal artist stakeholders. Credit: Dagens N\u00e6ringsliv<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jay-Z’s Tidal<\/strong> was scrutinized<\/a> by police<\/strong> in Norway in 2018<\/strong> and 2019<\/strong> for suspected streaming fraud<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

“They never wanted anyone to know Roc Nation was managing Tidal.”<\/em><\/h2>\n

The insider points to fraud involving Beyonce’s<\/strong> Lemonade<\/em> album, among many other Roc Nation artists <\/strong>who benefited<\/strong> from the scheme<\/strong>. Beyonce’s<\/strong> album was released and distributed by Sony Music<\/strong> and Universal Music Group<\/strong> in 2016<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Norwegian newspaper Dagens N\u00e6ringsliv<\/strong> was “surreptitiously given a hard drive containing internal company play data<\/strong>, billions of lines of it, spread across dozens of files.” Their 2017 <\/strong>investigation<\/a> revealed copious amounts of streaming fraud<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

In 2018<\/strong>, Tidal<\/strong> was accused<\/a> of faking hundreds of millions of plays<\/strong> for both Beyonce<\/strong> and Kanye West<\/strong>.<\/p>\n