Spotify has fired back at Drake‘s claim that they conspired with Universal Music Group to turn Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us” into a mega hit.
In a bombshell legal filing last month, the 6 God accused UMG — the parent company of both his label Republic and Kendrick’s longtime home of Interscope — of using streaming bots to artificially boost the popularity of the chart-topping diss song, which accuses Drake of being a pedophile.
The “pre-action” petition also alleged that UMG gave Spotify a 30 percent discount to license “Not Like Us” in exchange for the streaming service recommending the track to users “who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists.”
According to Billboard, Spotify filed a formal response in Manhattan court on Friday (December 20) in which it vehemently denied Drake’s claims, calling them “far-fetched” and questioning why Spotify — a “stranger” to the feud between Drake and Kendrick — is even involved.
The company’s laywers claimed that there is zero evidence to support the rapper’s allegations of streaming bots or an illicit deal being struck between Spotify and UMG.
“The predicate of Petitioner’s entire request for discovery from Spotify is false,” the filing reads. “Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement.”
It adds: “The Petition asserts no specific facts of any kind in support of these alleged RICO and deceptive practices violations. Instead, it relies exclusively on speculation … or the claims of anonymous individuals on the internet.”
The filing also criticized Drake for filing a pre-action petition instead of an actual lawsuit, claiming his allegations are too flimsy and would have been quickly dismissed in a lawsuit.
“This subversion of the normal judicial process should be rejected,” the streaming giant argues.
UPDATE: Drake’s lawyers have responded to Spotify, saying in a statement to HipHopDX: “It is not surprising that Spotify is trying to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of one of its other artists. If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide then they should be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request.”
The original story continues below.
While UMG has yet to file a response in court, it initially issued a statement rubbishing Drake’s claims.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the company said. “We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.
“No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”
Spotify’s response comes on the same day as a court hearing in Texas regarding Drake’s other petition against UMG and iHeartMedia.
In that filing, Drizzy said he had reason to believe that the music conglomerate had funneled payments to iHeartRadio stations across the country to play “Not Like Us.”
He also accused UMG of defamation for knowingly releasing a song that contains harmful and slanderous statements about him.
The hearing is to determine whether Drake can depose individuals from UMG and iHeartMedia and obtain more information to support a potential future lawsuit.
A court date in his dispute with UMG and Spotify is scheduled for January 16 in New York.
Another L for Drake
So many Ls that he’s got an octagon now 😂
uhh… that would be a square
Dude’s taken so many L’s this year he could be a tesseract
If both artists are under UMG and both artists exchanged several shots back and forth, why wouldn’t UMG do this practice for both artist on all the songs in the battle to make it bigger? Perhaps “Not Like Us” got the massive attention because it sounds like a party single while also being a diss track during a battle where everyone in hip hop was paying attention. This is the most bitch move in the history of hip hop.
BECAUSE ONE IS ABOUT TO RE SIGN FOR HALF A BILLION AND THIS WOULD LIKELY BRING THAT NUMBER DOWN AS HIS IMAGE HAS TAKEN A HIT?
@Jay – It’s not smart business to tarnish one of your own artists as it would directly affect your pocketbook as a company. The more popular he is, the better it is for them. And all the other companies mentioned in the lawsuit have no affiliation with either rapper… they’re not going to risk a giant lawsuit for 30% off of one song.
UMG isn’t gonna do that to their biggest artist, gtfoh. Drake also (without proof) accused Kendrick of being a woman beater, so I don’t wanna hear it. He accusin people of shit that can damage someone’s reputation the same way Kendrick did. Stop it
Dude just can’t except the fact that his fanbase is white girls, gays and bots. No real hip hop fan would ever bump Drake under any circumstance.
lmaaoo damn the hate is real
accept not except, dummy
You right, my bad. Wrote it too fast to see my error. Point still remains.
you are right, or you’re right, not you right, dummy
Looks like the white boy not only sucks at being a black rapper, but he’s also trash as a j3wish plaintiff.
What is the difference between…?
Drake filing this lawsuit against UMG and Kendrick getting the Tupac estate to file a lawsuit against Drake for using AI Tupac voice? Why does one get a pass while the other doesn’t?
Respect of the dead the other can’t take an L in a battle of words.. the difference is clear..
Tupac Estate sued all on their own. Theres no proof Kendrick made them do that.
Drake is a shitty pop star, but Spotify clearly uses bots and other shady tactics to boost certain content. To pretend that digital views are always legitimate is dishonest, but Spotify has to fight to the death over this, as that would be defrauding advertisers and lead to their bankruptcy.
Drake just can’t admit that people prefer Kendrick Lamar the nerd rapper.