Taylor Swift, KATSEYE, Lana Del Rey and Ariana Grande were named in a wave of apparent streaming profile hijacks across TIDAL and Apple Music on 26 and 27 July 2026. Unauthorised tracks and EPs carrying offensive language appeared beside the stars' legitimate catalogues, making them look like official releases.
Fan screenshots indicated the uploads were intended to provoke audiences and promote outside accounts rather than distribute music approved by the artists.
‼️| Taylor Swift’s TIDAL account has been hacked, after an unauthorized EP has been uploaded. pic.twitter.com/oXzUHTpPja
— The Taylor Swift Updates (@theTSupdates) July 27, 2026
Swift, the Grammy-winning The Tortured Poets Department singer, had an unauthorised EP placed on her TIDAL page with an offensive title. Taylor Swift Updates said her profile had been 'hacked, after an unauthorized EP has been uploaded'.
Grande's TIDAL page and KATSEYE's Apple Music catalogue were also shown carrying suspicious material, while screenshots shared by users documenting the wider TIDAL cluster reportedly named Born to Die singer Lana Del Rey among the affected artists.
Fans Spot Offensive Fake Releases
EYEKONS! Hackers invadiram o perfil do KATSEYE na Apple Music e publicaram uma falsa faixa com conteúdo racista.
— KATSEYE BRASIL ✶ (@KATSEYEBRASIL) July 26, 2026
— A capa do lançamento inclui um link para um servidor no Discord, confirmando que se trata de uma invasão. pic.twitter.com/qRSzRhWqla
KATSEYE's case caused particular alarm because the fake Apple Music upload reportedly used a racial slur in its title. Fans worried casual listeners could wrongly connect the content to the 'Gnarly' and 'Touch' group or its label.
The page later returned to a normal catalogue showing legitimate singles, EPs and the forthcoming WILD project, indicating the disputed release had been removed.
First Katy ,second Lana then Ari now Taylor omg what’s happening
— ༄𝑺𝒕𝒊𝒈𝐚༄ (@boylykstiga) July 27, 2026
Grande fans reported a similar discovery while checking the Wicked star's TIDAL profile. Screenshots showed suspicious material linked to social media promotion, raising concern that her name was being used to direct attention towards an outside account. Users later said the release and an associated unauthorised video were no longer visible.
A Hack or a Metadata Exploit?
Although fans called the incidents hacks, the available evidence does not establish that Swift, Grande, Del Rey or KATSEYE had personal passwords or artist-management accounts stolen.
Streaming catalogues rely on labels and distributors delivering audio with artist names, titles and other metadata.
Apple says distributors manage delivered metadata and tells artists to report catalogue issues when releases are attached to the wrong page, suggesting placement can be hijacked without compromising a celebrity's login.
TIDAL's rules prohibit content that 'uses metadata... in a manner which misrepresents the true identity of the artist'. Its updated policy also permits removal of material that deceives listeners, exploits a person's name or likeness or interferes with authentic artists.
Those provisions closely match the reported activity, but TIDAL had not publicly explained how the uploads passed its checks or whether one distributor account was responsible.
Profiles Restored, Questions Remain
By 28 July, users checking the incidents said the unauthorised TIDAL releases appeared to have been removed. One listener wrote, 'Those hacked releases seem to be gone now from TIDAL', while KATSEYE's current Apple Music page no longer showed the offensive track.
The clean-up reduced the immediate risk, but it did not establish whether one uploader targeted all four acts or several people copied the same method.
The episode underlines why a streaming profile is more than a digital discography. A fake release can trigger follower notifications, sit beside an artist's real work and borrow the credibility of a globally recognised name before moderators respond.
For stars with enormous fan communities, even a short-lived upload can spread offensive language and confusion far beyond its original platform.
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Available public posts had not linked the incidents to one identified attacker at the time of publication. The clearest pattern was the misuse of catalogue placement across more than one service, followed by removals after fans raised the alarm.
Until the platforms explain their safeguards, the hijacks leave a central question for the streaming industry: how did unauthorised material reach some of pop's most closely watched pages?
