Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC has issued a brand new authorized submitting in Manhattan courtroom, accusing Common Music Group and Spotify of “illegally” boosting streams of Kendrick Lamar’s Grammy-nominated diss monitor “Not Like Us” by allegedly utilizing bots, undisclosed funds, and biased suggestions, in keeping with courtroom paperwork considered by Pitchfork. “UMG didn’t depend on likelihood, and even odd enterprise practices,” wrote attorneys for the Canadian rapper’s firm. “It as a substitute launched a marketing campaign to govern and saturate the streaming companies and airwaves.”
Drake’s attorneys accuse UMG of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), implementing misleading pay-to-play enterprise practices, and utilizing false promoting below New York state legislation. In courtroom paperwork, his attorneys declare they tried to “meet and consult with UMG” for the previous a number of months,” however the label “declined to enter into substantive negotiations” and as a substitute allegedly insisted that they take it up with Lamar immediately.
Of their pre-action petition, Drake’s legal professionals search numerous paperwork from UMG and Spotify, together with proof of fee or decreased licensing charges offered to the streaming platform in trade for selling “Not Like Us,” and the identities of third events that UMG allegedly employed to make use of bots to extend streams of the music or music video. At one level within the authorized paperwork, Drake’s legal professionals declare Spotify really useful “Not Like Us” to customers who looked for “unrelated songs and artists” on account of UMG’s decreased licensing charges, {that a} UMG worker paid an unbiased radio promoter to “switch these funds” to radio stations who aired the music, and that the label paid influencers to advertise the music on social media.
A notably particular declare that Drake’s legal professionals make in these paperwork is that UMG paid Apple Inc. to have Siri “purposely misdirect” customers to “Not Like Us” once they ask Siri to play Drake’s 2021 album Licensed Lover Boy. (After all, “Not Like Us” contains the notorious lyric and allegation “Licensed Lover Boy?/ Licensed pedophile.”)
Drake’s legal professionals paint an image within the authorized filings of UMG suppressing its personal workers who spoke out in opposition to these alleged actions, writing, “[We] obtained data that UMG has been taking steps in an obvious effort to hide its schemes, together with, however not restricted to, by terminating staff related to or perceived as having loyalty to Drake.”
A Common Music Group spokesperson denied Drake’s claims in a press release, writing, “The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful. We make use of the very best moral practices in our advertising 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 wish to hear.”
“Not Like Us” debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 again in Might, and has since remained probably the most widespread songs of 2024. Drake’s retort, “Household Issues,” landed at No. 7 on the singles chart. His final album, For All of the Canines, got here out in October of final yr, whereas Lamar shock launched a brand new full-length this previous Friday titled GNX.
