Legal Battle Over Alleged Use of Bots, Payola, and Fraudulent Practice
The court filing claims:
▫️ UMG used Spotify and Apple’s Siri to push Not Like Us over Drake’s tracks.
▫️ Employees perceived as loyal to Drake were allegedly fired as part of an effort to cover up UMG’s actions.
▫️ UMG paid influencers and radio stations to boost Lamar’s song without disclosure.
▫️ A whistleblower revealed bots generated 30 million early streams for Not Like Us.
Drake is accusing UMG and Spotify of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), as well as the NY Deceptive Business Act and the NY False Advertising Act.
Drake has filed legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify, accusing the companies of conspiring to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.” In a filing made on November 25 in Manhattan court, Drake’s company, Frozen Moments LLC, claims that UMG orchestrated an illegal scheme to manipulate streaming services using bots, payola, and other deceptive tactics. The track, which targets Drake amid their ongoing feud, is alleged to have been promoted through a coordinated effort to saturate streaming platforms and airwaves.
Drake’s attorneys argue that UMG “did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” but instead “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.” They accuse the label of violating the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act, the New York Deceptive Business Practices Act, and the New York False Advertising Act.
In the petition, Drake’s legal team alleges that UMG employed various methods to boost the song’s popularity, including paying influencers to promote the track on social media, using bots to artificially inflate streaming numbers, and negotiating reduced licensing fees with Spotify in exchange for preferential placement of the song. The petition states, “UMG… conspired with and paid currently unknown parties to use ‘bots’ to artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us’ and deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.”
A particularly shocking claim in the filing is that UMG paid Apple to manipulate its voice assistant, Siri, to misdirect users searching for Drake’s album Certified Lover Boy toward Kendrick Lamar’s track. The petition details that “online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album Certified Loverboy by Drake, Siri instead played ‘Not Like Us,’ which contains the lyric ‘certified pedophile,’ an allegation against Drake.”
Drake’s attorneys also point to internal corporate dynamics at UMG and Interscope as a potential motive for the alleged scheme. They suggest that the label’s executives were motivated by financial incentives tied to Interscope’s success, stating, “UMG’s schemes… were motivated, at least in part, by the desire of executives at Interscope to maximize their own profits.” The petition also claims that Interscope executives saw an opportunity to boost Lamar’s song and his catalog’s performance.
Drake’s legal team asserts that the artist attempted to resolve the issue directly with UMG before resorting to litigation. However, they claim that the label was uncooperative and “refused to engage in negotiations” or take responsibility for its actions. Instead, UMG allegedly shifted the blame onto Kendrick Lamar, with the petition stating that UMG “insisted that Drake should sue his rival rather than the label,” and even threatened to sue Lamar if Drake proceeded with the lawsuit.
While this filing is a pre-action petition seeking information before a full lawsuit, the legal dispute between Drake and UMG marks a dramatic shift in the high-profile beef between the two artists and highlights serious allegations of corporate misconduct in the music industry.
UMG shares in Spotify is now worth $3 Billion according to a recent report.
