Drake is reportedly accusing Common Music Group and Spotify of artificially inflating Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” numbers through the use of bots and payola.
Drake Information Pre-Acton Petition in Court docket
On Monday (Nov. 25), Drake’s firm Future Moments LLC filed a pre-action petition in New York Supreme Court docket, Billboard experiences. The submitting accuses UMG and Spotify of conspiring to spice up the totals on Ok-Dot’s chart-topping diss music “Not Like Us.”
“UMG didn’t depend on probability, and even odd enterprise practices,” the submitting reads. “It as an alternative launched a marketing campaign to control and saturate the streaming providers and airwaves.”
Drake’s authorized staff accuses UMG and Spotify of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act and utilizing misleading enterprise practices and false promoting with bots and payola.
“UMG’s schemes … have been motivated, not less than partially, by the need of executives at Interscope to maximise their very own income,” Drake’s attorneys insist. “Executives at Interscope have been incentivized to maximise the monetary success of Interscope by way of the promotion of ‘Not Like Us’ and its revitalizing influence on the artist’s prior recording catalog.”
The petitioner additionally accuses the NFR Podcast of taking cash to advertise the music and video with out disclosing cost. The pre-action petition is a preemptive transfer to collect data and Drake has but to file an official lawsuit.
“Not Like Us” was one of many largest hip-hop songs in 2024 and broke a number of streaming data in path to topping the Billboard Scorching 100 a number of occasions. Following the music’s launch, there was web hypothesis that bots have been getting used to raise Kendrick and unfold negativity about The Boy.
Kendrick’s hit single earned 5 Grammy Award nominations together with Music of the Yr, Greatest Rap Efficiency, Greatest Rap Music, File of the Yr and Greatest Music Video.
XXL has reached out to Drake’s staff, Kendrick Lamar’s staff, Spotify and UMG for remark.
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