Drake has filed a lawsuit against Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG), alleging that they colluded to inflate the number of plays of Kendrick Lamar’s diss song “Not Like Us.”
Lawyers representing Drake’s company, Frozen Moments LLC, submitted a petition to the New York Supreme Court on Monday, accusing UMG and Spotify of participating in an illegal plan that used payola, bots, and other tactics to promote Lamar’s song while stifling his work.
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” the lawyers claimed. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
The song, which peaked at number one in the US charts, received 96 million plays in seven days and was a top 10 radio smash, was allegedly leased to Spotify at a 30% discount in exchange for a boost and user recommendations, according to the lawsuit.
Drake also accused UMG of slander in another lawsuit he filed in Texas. According to the filing, the corporation marketed the song while knowing that “Not Like Us” “falsely” accused him of paedophilia.
But in a response, a UMG representative denied the claims, calling them “offensive and untrue.”
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” they said
“We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
Drake and Lamar have worked with UMG for their careers: Drake via Republic Records and Lamar via Interscope. UMG owns both labels.
