Amy Sussman/Getty Images
Drake has officially withdrawn his lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify.
On January 14, UPROXX reported that Drake had voluntarily dropped his legal battle with two music organizations. The lawsuit is based on claims that UMG and Spotify used an unethical practice known as “payola” to inflate the number of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a protest track for Drake.
According to documents from the New York Supreme Court, the “Hotline Bling” rapper’s legal team decided to end the case before filing a lawsuit.
“Please further note that the petitioner has voluntarily ceased to continue,” the filing shared.
“This special procedure applies to all defendants at no cost to any party. Plaintiffs met and conferred with defendants on January 14, 2025 regarding the filing of this application. “
The document added that Spotify and UMG did not object to discontinuing the lawsuit.
Drake filed suit ahead of the action on November 25, 2024, alleging that streaming figures for “Not Like Us” were “inflated” on music charts.
In May 2024, Lamar’s track reigned at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 after amassing 70.9 million streams and approximately 15,000 copies sold.
In December 2024, Spotify denied the allegations, denying any involvement in manipulating song counts. However, the response prompted Drake’s legal team to redouble their efforts in their lawsuit against Spotify, accusing the platform of trying to “shun” the issue.
Tags Drake, Global Music Group, Spotify, Kendrick Lamar