Drake Says Universal Music Group, Spotify Unfairly Promoted Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’: NPR

Drake poses at the Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas on May 1, 2019.

Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

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Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP

Drake has filed a lawsuit against Spotify and Universal Music Group, accusing the companies of conspiring to inflate the streaming and radio numbers of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” amid the rappers’ months-long feud.

Drake says in the petition, filed in the New York court system that UMG paid influencers, radio stations and others to promote the song and use bots to boost the song’s popularity.

Referring to the companies’ multi-year licensing agreement, he says they have “a long-standing, symbiotic business relationship”, with UMG charging Spotify a 30% less than usual licensing fee for “Not Like Us”. In return, Spotify often recommended the song to users, he says.

Drake and Lamar are two of the biggest names in the rap genre, with multiple number one hits and Grammys between them. They both have record label deals under UMG and collaborated a few times in the past.

Drake alleges that UMG engaged in similar practices with other streaming platforms, such as Apple Music. For example, when users asked Siri to play his album Certified Lover Boyplayed it “Not Like Us” instead. He also says UMG fired employees “with or perceived to be loyal to Drake.”

Spotify and UMG were not immediately available for comment.

However, UMG said in a statement cited by the Associated Press that “the suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional promotions. No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action post can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

It’s unclear what sparked the conflict between the two, but earlier this year they both released several songs filled with jabs and insults aimed at the other. Topping the exchanges was Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” which spent two weeks at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 and has more than 900,000 streams on Spotify.

Before filing a complaint, which would turn Drake’s allegations into an official lawsuit, Drake is requesting discovery that includes the identities of the people UMG and Spotify allegedly paid to promote and stream the song.

“Every time a song ‘breaks through,’ it means another artist doesn’t,” he says in the petition. “UMG’s choice to saturate the music market with ‘Not Like Us’ comes at the expense of its other artists, like Drake.”