Last month, Drake filed a lawsuit accusing Universal Music Group and Spotify of inflating the streaming stats for Kendrick Lamar’s Drake diss, “Not Like Us,” in order to “deceive consumers into believing the song was more popular than it was in reality.” The next day, Drake filed another lawsuit, alleging he was defamed by Lamar’s lyrics. (You know, the “Certified lover boy? Certified pedophile” one.)
Today, Spotify responded to the first suit. According to Billboard, the streaming corporation made a filing in Manhattan this morning, denying there was any deal made between them and UMG to inflate Lamar’s numbers with bots, payola, streaming farms, or anything of the sort. “The predicate of Petitioner’s entire request for discovery from Spotify is false,” the attorneys write, going on to call Drake’s claims “far-fetched” and “speculative.” “Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement,” the statement continues, and calls Spotify a “stranger” to the rappers’ beef.
What Drake filed in November was actually a pre-action for the lawsuit, aimed at extracting information to eventually file a proper lawsuit. This seems to have especially aggravated Spotify, which, like other streaming platforms Netflix and Prime Video, tends to be really cagey about letting anyone look at numbers it hasn’t shared itself. “What petitioner is seeking to do here … is to bypass the normal pleading requirements … and obtain by way of pre-action discovery that which it would only be entitled to seek were it to survive a motion to dismiss,” write the lawyers. “This subversion of the normal judicial process should be rejected.”
In a statement to The A.V. Club, representatives for Drake said it was "not surprising" that Spotify wanted to "distance" itself from UMG's "manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers." They added, "If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide then they should be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request."
Aside from the lawsuits making Drake seem pretty sweaty, Billboard notes they’re particularly strange because Universal is also Drake’s label. (He’s signed to its Republic Records imprint.) Right or wrong, alleging they illegally prioritized his labelmate over him is a bold move. UMG hasn’t gone as far as Spotify in filing anything yet, but last month issued the following statement: “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.”
This story has been updated with a statement from Drake's legal team.
