Incident: Tidal Accused of Manipulating Beyonce and Kanye West Data

Published Date: 2018-05-10

Postmortem Analysis
Timeline 1. The software failure incident involving Tidal manipulating audience figures for Beyonce and Kanye West albums occurred in February and March of 2016 as reported in Article 71596.
System 1. Tidal's audience logs manipulation system [71596] 2. Tidal's data logging system for play records [71596]
Responsible Organization 1. Tidal - Tidal was accused of manipulating the audience logs for Beyonce and Kanye West albums, leading to inflated audience figures and disproportionate royalties being paid to the singers' record companies [71596].
Impacted Organization 1. Beyonce and Kanye West's record companies - The software failure incident impacted Beyonce and Kanye West's record companies as Tidal's alleged manipulation of audience figures for the albums "Lemonade" and "The Life of Pablo" would have led to disproportionate royalties being paid to these record companies at the expense of other artists [71596].
Software Causes 1. The failure incident involving Tidal manipulating audience figures for Beyonce and Kanye West albums was not attributed to software causes but rather to intentional manipulation of data [71596].
Non-software Causes 1. Allegations of inflating audience figures for Beyonce and Kanye West albums to pay disproportionate royalties to record companies [71596]. 2. Accusations of a smear campaign against Tidal by a Norwegian-language newspaper [71596]. 3. Denial of the allegations by Tidal and claims of stolen and manipulated data [71596]. 4. Disputed listening records by identified Tidal users [71596].
Impacts 1. The software failure incident led to Tidal being accused of manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West, potentially resulting in disproportionate royalties being paid to their record companies [71596]. 2. The incident caused a smear campaign against Tidal, with allegations of stolen and manipulated data, affecting the company's reputation [71596]. 3. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology found that over 320 million false play records had been logged for the two albums, impacting more than 1.7 million user accounts, indicating a significant scale of manipulation [71596]. 4. The incident raised concerns within the music industry, with one trade body expressing worries about the situation despite Tidal's denials [71596].
Preventions 1. Implementing stricter data validation and verification processes to ensure the accuracy and integrity of audience logs [71596]. 2. Conducting regular audits and checks on the streaming platform's data to detect any anomalies or discrepancies [71596]. 3. Enhancing user authentication and access controls to prevent unauthorized manipulation of data [71596].
Fixes 1. Implement stricter data validation and verification processes to ensure the accuracy and integrity of audience logs [71596]. 2. Conduct a thorough internal investigation to identify any vulnerabilities or loopholes in the system that could have allowed for data manipulation [71596]. 3. Enhance security measures to prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data and ensure data privacy [71596]. 4. Collaborate with independent third-party auditors to verify the authenticity of audience figures and ensure compliance with industry standards [71596].
References 1. Dagens Naeringsliv (DN) - The Norwegian-language newspaper that reported the accusations against Tidal and provided detailed information about the manipulated data [Article 71596]. 2. Norwegian University of Science and Technology - Researchers from this university conducted an analysis on the manipulated data and published a report supporting the claims made by DN [Article 71596].

Software Taxonomy of Faults

Category Option Rationale
Recurring unknown The articles do not provide information about the software failure incident happening again at either the same organization or at multiple organizations. Therefore, it is unknown if a similar incident has occurred before within Tidal or at other organizations.
Phase (Design/Operation) design, operation (a) The software failure incident related to the design phase is evident in the accusation against Tidal for manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West. The Norwegian newspaper, Dagens Naeringsliv (DN), reported that more than 320 million false play records had been logged for the two albums, affecting over 1.7 million user accounts. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis indicating that the manipulation was unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies, suggesting a deliberate design-related manipulation rather than a random error [71596]. (b) The software failure incident related to the operation phase is highlighted by the fact that Tidal had the exclusive streaming rights to the albums in question when they were first launched. The accusation of inflating audience figures and paying disproportionate royalties to record companies points to issues related to the operation or misuse of the system. Additionally, DN reported that it had identified and tracked down several Tidal users from the logs who disputed listening to the albums' songs as frequently as the records indicated, indicating discrepancies in the operation or usage of the system [71596].
Boundary (Internal/External) within_system (a) The software failure incident reported in the articles is primarily within the system. The failure was related to Tidal being accused of manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West, leading to inflated play records and excessive royalty payments to record companies [71596]. The manipulation of data, involving false play records for the albums, was targeted and extensive, affecting over 1.7 million user accounts. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis indicating that the manipulation was unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies within the system [71596]. Additionally, Tidal denied the allegations and claimed that the information was stolen and manipulated, indicating an internal issue within the system.
Nature (Human/Non-human) non-human_actions (a) The software failure incident in this case is related to non-human actions. The failure was attributed to the manipulation of audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West on the music streaming app Tidal. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis that indicated over 320 million false play records had been logged for the two albums, affecting more than 1.7 million user accounts. The study concluded that the manipulation was unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies, suggesting that the failure was not due to human actions but rather introduced without human participation [71596].
Dimension (Hardware/Software) software (a) The articles do not provide any information about the software failure incident occurring due to contributing factors originating in hardware. (b) The software failure incident reported in the articles is related to manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West on the music streaming app Tidal. The manipulation involved inflating play records for the albums, affecting over 1.7 million user accounts. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis indicating that over 320 million false play records had been logged for the two albums, suggesting a manipulation that was unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies [71596].
Objective (Malicious/Non-malicious) malicious (a) The software failure incident in this case is considered malicious. The incident involved Tidal being accused of manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West, leading to inflated play records and excessive royalty payments to their record companies. The manipulation was targeted and extensive, affecting over 1.7 million user accounts with more than 320 million false play records logged. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis indicating that the manipulation was unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies, suggesting a deliberate act to deceive [71596]. Tidal denied the allegations and claimed the information was stolen and manipulated, indicating a malicious intent behind the software failure incident.
Intent (Poor/Accidental Decisions) poor_decisions The intent of the software failure incident reported in the articles is related to poor_decisions. The failure was not attributed to accidental decisions or mistakes but rather to intentional actions aimed at manipulating audience figures for specific albums on the Tidal music streaming app. The manipulation of data to inflate audience numbers for Beyonce and Kanye West albums was a deliberate act to potentially increase royalties paid to their record companies at the expense of other artists [71596]. The extensive manipulation of play records for the two albums, affecting over 1.7 million user accounts, was described as targeted and unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies, indicating a deliberate effort rather than accidental decisions [71596].
Capability (Incompetence/Accidental) accidental (a) The software failure incident related to the manipulation of audience figures for Beyonce and Kanye West albums on Tidal does not seem to be directly attributed to development incompetence. The incident was more about alleged manipulation of data to inflate audience numbers, leading to disproportionate royalties being paid out [71596]. (b) The software failure incident appears to be more aligned with an accidental failure rather than intentional development incompetence. The manipulation of data, as reported by the Norwegian newspaper, was not attributed to a code-based bug or anomalies but rather to targeted and extensive manipulation of play records affecting user accounts [71596].
Duration temporary The software failure incident reported in the articles is more likely to be temporary rather than permanent. The incident involved the manipulation of audience figures for albums on the Tidal music streaming app, specifically Lemonade by Beyonce and The Life of Pablo by Kanye West. Researchers at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology conducted an analysis that indicated over 320 million false play records had been logged for the two albums, affecting more than 1.7 million user accounts. The researchers concluded that the manipulation was targeted and extensive, making it unlikely to be solely the result of a code-based bug or other anomalies [71596]. This suggests that the software failure incident was temporary and caused by specific circumstances related to the manipulation of data rather than a permanent failure due to inherent issues in the software.
Behaviour omission, value, other (a) crash: The articles do not mention any instance of a crash where the system loses state and does not perform any of its intended functions. (b) omission: The software failure incident in the articles is related to omission. Tidal was accused of inflating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West, leading to disproportionate royalties being paid to their record companies at the expense of other artists [Article 71596]. (c) timing: The articles do not mention any instance of a timing failure where the system performs its intended functions correctly but too late or too early. (d) value: The software failure incident in the articles is related to a value failure. The manipulation of audience figures by Tidal resulted in incorrect data being used to calculate royalties, leading to disproportionate payments to record companies [Article 71596]. (e) byzantine: The articles do not mention any instance of a byzantine failure where the system behaves erroneously with inconsistent responses and interactions. (f) other: The other behavior observed in this software failure incident is the manipulation of data to inflate audience figures, leading to financial implications such as disproportionate royalties being paid to record companies [Article 71596].

IoT System Layer

Layer Option Rationale
Perception None None
Communication None None
Application None None

Other Details

Category Option Rationale
Consequence property, non-human, theoretical_consequence (a) death: There is no mention of any deaths resulting from the software failure incident in the provided article [71596]. (b) harm: The article does not mention any physical harm caused to individuals due to the software failure incident [71596]. (c) basic: The incident did not impact people's access to food or shelter [71596]. (d) property: The software failure incident impacted people's material goods, money, or data as it involved manipulating audience figures for albums, potentially leading to disproportionate royalties being paid to certain artists' record companies [71596]. (e) delay: There is no mention of any activities being postponed due to the software failure incident [71596]. (f) non-human: The software failure incident impacted non-human entities, specifically in terms of false play records being logged for albums, affecting user accounts [71596]. (g) no_consequence: The article does not mention that there were no real observed consequences of the software failure incident [71596]. (h) theoretical_consequence: The article discusses potential consequences of the software failure incident, such as Tidal paying disproportionate royalties to certain artists' record companies at the expense of other artists [71596]. (i) other: There are no other consequences of the software failure incident mentioned in the article [71596].
Domain entertainment (a) The failed system in this incident was related to the entertainment industry. The software failure incident involved music streaming app Tidal being accused of manipulating audience figures for albums by Beyonce and Kanye West, impacting royalties paid to record companies [Article 71596].

Sources

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