Jay Z's Tidal hit with lawsuit over royalty payment

While Jay Z has boasted that Tidal gives artists higher royalties than any other streaming service, a new lawsuit alleges that the company isn't always paying them.

In a class-action complaint filed on Saturday, John Emanuele of the band The American Dollars alleges that he has not yet received any royalties from the streaming service. In the same suit, the band's label, Yesh Music, alleges that it has only received reduced royalties from Tidal, accusing the streaming service of "deliberately miscalculating" per-stream royalty rates and diluting payments by "up to 35 percent."

Shortly after its launch in March of 2015, Tidal owner Jay Z said that the service "pays 75% royalty rate to ALL artists, writers and producers — not just the founding members on stage."

A Tidal executive later clarified that with Tidal, 62.5% of royalties goes to labels, while 12.5% goes to artists. She said that this still puts Tidal above industry royalty standards, which break down to 60% and 10%.

The lawsuit also alleges that Tidal failed to issue NOIs (Notice of Intent to Obtain Compulsory License) before including music on its service, which the complaint calls "part of an egregious, calculated, and ongoing campaign of deliberate copyright infringement."

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Emanuele, Yesh and "all other similarly situated copyright holders." It demands between $30,000 and $150,000 for 118 copyright registrations.

"Ironically, when Defendant CARTER purchased the TIDAL Music Service in 2015, it claimed it would be the first streaming service to pay the artists," the lawsuit reads. "Different owner, same game."

After its high-profile launch in March of 2015—attended by big-name stakeholders like Rihanna, Madonna, Kanye West and Nicki Minaj, all present to promote the image of an "artist-owned" business — the streaming service faced backlash from many less prominent artists.

Marcus Mumford shot back at Tidal last April, saying, "when they say it’s artist-owned, it’s owned by those rich, wealthy artists." Death Cab for Cutie's Ben Gibbard later expressed similar frustration, saying that Tidal focuses its energy on mega-famous super-earners rather than those "who are struggling to make a living in today's music industry."

Reps for Tidal have not yet responded to Mashable's request for comment