Drake has accused Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) of inflating the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss song, “Not Like Us,” which was aimed at him. The accusations were detailed in a court filing that Drake’s business, Frozen Moments LLC, made in Manhattan on Monday.
The present conflict stems from a feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar, both signed to UMG businesses, earlier this year in which they traded diss tapes. Kendrick Lamar’s single “Not Like Us” received a lot of public attention and around 900 million plays due to its harsh criticism of Drake and his associates.
Drake claims that Spotify and UMG falsified the song’s success data, including radio airplay and streaming, in order to increase revenue. He asserts that they used unethical techniques to artificially increase the song’s reach, such as “bots” and pay-for-play agreements.
UMG denied the claims and described them as “offensive and untrue.” Drake’s charges, according to a business spokesperson, are “contrived and absurd legal arguments,” and UMG integrates “the highest ethical practices” into its marketing and advertising operations.
Drake accuses UMG in his complaint of orchestrating a coordinated attempt to oversaturate radio stations and streaming platforms with Not Like Us. It asserts that the label intended for the song to go viral at the expense of fair competition.
Additionally, according to the petition, UMG promised Spotify lower license fees in return for promoting the song more widely. Additionally, it alleges that Spotify tampered with its algorithm to suggest Not Like Us to consumers looking for irrelevant material.
The petition also alleges that UMG offered Spotify reduced licensing rates in exchange for giving the song additional exposure. It further claims Spotify manipulated its algorithm to recommend Not Like Us to users searching for unrelated content.
Concerns regarding Apple’s digital assistant Siri are also raised in the petition, which claims that when customers looked for alternative music, Siri routed them to Not Like Us. Drake’s team used internet resources to back up these assertions.
The legal filing is a pre-action petition rather than a real lawsuit as of yet. This process in New York enables parties to collect data and proof that may be utilized in a subsequent legal action. Whether the case will go to trial is still up in the air.
The public and media have given Drake and Lamar’s dispute a lot of attention because to their previous partnerships. The dispute demonstrates the brutality and frequent polarization of the music business.
The UMG representative reaffirmed that sincere fan decisions, not deceptive methods, are what propel its artists’ success. They brushed Drake’s charges aside as unfounded and underlined that Not Like Us’ success was a result of audience demand.
Drake is still seeking further proof to back up his claims, and the dispute is still in its early phases. The claims intensify the already fierce competition between the two performers, however, it’s unclear if this will lead to a legal lawsuit.
