Apple have denied claims that they have set out to derail Rihanna‘s current album campaign today, repudiating allegations that they are punishing her for supporting Jay-Z‘s TIDAL streaming service.
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A story “leaked” to several publications claimed that Rihanna has lost a supporter in the company ever since she threw her support behind TIDAL, launched by her Roc Nation boss Jay-Z.
The story claimed that the company declared war on the singer after learning that she planned to support TIDAL with exclusive content that would assist them before they’re tasked with competing with the Apple Beats streaming service in June.
One publication shares:
Robert Kondrk, vice president of iTunes Content, has also declared war on artists who sign up with Tidal. A source told us, “Robert told execs at Universal Music Group that Rihanna and other Tidal artists’ music would not be promoted as featured artists on iTunes if they put exclusive music out on Tidal.”The source added that after Rihanna’s song “American Oxygen” debuted on Tidal, there were technical problems with her music on iTunes. The source explained, “Rihanna’s songs were scrambled and were out of commission for periods of time.”
An Apple spokesperson has denied this.
Rihanna is yet to respond.