In an sudden plot twist, Drake has filed courtroom paperwork accusing music conglomerate Common Music Group and streaming service Spotify of conspiring to artificially inflate Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” numbers by way of bots and payola. Drake’s firm Future Moments LLC filed a pre-action petition in New York Supreme Court docket on Monday (Nov. 25), which accuses UMG of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), the NY Misleading Enterprise Act and the NY False Promoting Act. Here is a breakdown of the potential lawsuit.
The Allegations:
- The pre-action petition claims Spotify “launched a marketing campaign to control and saturate the streaming companies and airwaves” with “Not Like Us” with a purpose to make sure the tune went viral by way of bots, pay-to-play agreements and false promoting.
- UMG charged Spotify a 30 p.c decrease licensing charge in alternate for Spotify recommending the tune to customers who’re looking for unrelated content material. Neither firm disclosed this licensing settlement.
- UMG, by way of Interscope, paid third events to make use of software program applications (bots) to inflate “Not Like Us” and trick customers into believing the tune was extra well-liked than it truly was.
- An unknown particular person revealed on a DJ Akademiks livestream that Kendrick’s “label” paid him $2,500 through a 3rd celebration to assist jumpstart the tune’s marketing campaign with bots. This particular person claims they had been provided one other $2,500 and a share of the tune’s gross sales.
- UMG employed third events to inflate the numbers of the “Not Like Us” music video with bots.
- UMG paid Apple Inc. to have Siri purposely misdirect customers to “Not Like Us” after they requested the digital assistant to tug up Drake’s Licensed Lover Boy album.
- UMG engaged in payola with impartial radio promotors who forwarded the funds to radio stations and radio workers to play “Not Like Us.”
- UMG paid the NFR X account to advertise the only with out disclosing cost.
- In an unprecedented transfer, UMG eliminated the “Not Like Us” copyright restrictions on YouTube and Twitch with a purpose to incentivize influencers to unfold the tune.
- UMG’s scheme was motivated “by the need of executives at Interscope to maximise their very own earnings.”
- UMG terminated workers who had an affiliation and loyalty to Drake.
- UMG refused to have interaction in negotiations after Drake notified them of the financial hurt the tune was having on his picture and as an alternative urged he take authorized motion towards Kendrick Lamar. The label threatened to take authorized motion towards Kendrick Lamar if Drake sued them.
- Drake believes he has a trigger for a civil RICO case due to alleged “predicate acts of wire fraud, mail fraud, and/or bribery for UMG’s funds to unknown third events within the type of lowered licensing charges to Spotify.”
It is a pre-action petition, which is filed with a purpose to collect data for a possible lawsuit. Drake’s firm has but to formally sue the music corporations.
A spokesperson for Common Music Group has launched the next assertion to XXL in response to Drake’s accusations: “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful,” the assertion reads. “We make use of the very best moral practices in our advertising and marketing and promotional campaigns. No quantity of contrived and absurd authorized arguments on this pre-action submission can masks the truth that followers select the music they need to hear.”
A spokesperson for Spotify declined to touch upon the allegations. XXL has reached out to Kendrick Lamar’s workforce and Drake’s workforce for remark.
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