Drake has taken legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, claiming they conspired to artificially boost the streams of ‘Not Like Us,’ Kendrick Lamar’s diss track against him.
In a petition filed to the New York supreme court on Monday, lawyers for Frozen Moments LLC, Drake’s company, accused UMG and Spotify of engaging in an illegal scheme involving bots, payola and other methods to promote Lamar’s song while suppressing his music.
“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 filing alleged the song — with 96 million streams in seven days, number one in the US charts, and a top 10 radio hit — was licensed to Spotify at a 30% discount in exchange for a boost and recommendations to users.
Drake also filed a separate legal action in Texas accusing UMG of defamation. The filing claimed that the company was aware that ‘Not Like Us’ “falsely” accused him of pedophilia, but distributed the track.
However, a spokesperson for UMG dismissed the allegations in a statement, describing them as “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.
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