It Looks Like Tidal Is Inflating JAY-Z's '4:44' Numbers

JAY-Z's album 4:44 finished first on the album chart for the second week in a row this week.

However, those numbers are being called into question, with growing voices in the industry criticizing the way Tidal -- the streaming service JAY-Z owns --  has been reporting their plays.

Hits Daily Double reports:

In the first week of wide release for Jay-Z’s 4:44, total reported streams to SoundScan [Nielsen] were 122m, which was 68m more than the same streaming services reported to BuzzAngle. Similarly, two weeks prior, DJ Khaled won a race with Imagine Dragons for #1 when SoundScan logged 17m more streams than BuzzAngle. Industry insiders have confirmed that both Apple Music and Spotify, the leading streaming services with over 90% combined share, reported the same numbers to both chart services.

[Related: Check the first week projections for JAY-Z's 4:44]

HDD adds that "there is a growing call from the industry to boot Tidal as a reporter to SoundScan."