In Drake’s view, there is compelling evidence to support his claims against Universal Music Group and Spotify.
He has explicitly alleged that there was collusion between the record label and the music streaming service to artificially increase the number of streams of the song “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar.
According to Drake’s attorney, “UMG did not rely on opportunity, or even conventional business practices. Instead, it launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate streaming services and broadcast.”
To clarify the situation, Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC submitted a request to review data from UMG and Spotify.
However, Spotify denied the artist’s claims and issued a statement denying the allegations. The company also asserted that its investigation did not uncover any evidence to substantiate the artist’s allegations of bot manipulation.
Spotify denied Drake’s allegation that it helped UMG inflate Kendrick Lamar’s streams on “Not Like Us,” saying it found no evidence to support the claim.
Its filing criticized Drake for going to trial, calling his claims “far-fetched” and “speculative.” pic.twitter.com/20vDaC0wB1
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) December 20, 2024
Drake immediately gave an immediate answer. His legal representatives emphasized their commitment to pursuing the information they sought until it was obtained.
Early on, Drake raised concerns about someone using a bot to artificially increase the number of streams for his song “Not Like Us” to 30 million.
Additionally, the platform has rebuttals regarding claims that UMG offered to reduce licensing fees by 30% to promote Kendrick’s rebuttal activity.
Upon receiving the news, Drake’s legal team remained unfazed. Quickly responding with an official statement, they confidently asserted their foresight on Spotify’s expected defense strategy.
“It is no surprise that Spotify is trying to distance itself,” the lawyers said via AllHipHop.
“From UMG’s alleged manipulative practices to artificially increasing streaming numbers on behalf of one of their other artists.”
The main goal reiterated by Drake’s team is to ensure access to streaming data. The rapper believes that both UMG and Spotify should be willing to share this information, as long as they are not at fault.
Their statement concluded: “If Spotify and UMG had nothing to hide, they would be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request.”
Critics have been relentless in their criticism of Drake’s choice to pursue legal action.
Despite the obstacles, the “One Dance” singer is still determined to pursue his claim.
Tags Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Spotify, Global music group