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Drake is now not pursuing the primary of two petitions in opposition to Common Music Group, which accused them of utilizing bots and payola to artificially increase Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.” On Tuesday (Jan. 14), the Canadian rapper’s Frozen Moments LLC filed to voluntarily withdraw the case “with out prices to any social gathering” in Manhattan courtroom.
Initially filed in November 2024, Drake alleged that UMG orchestrated a “marketing campaign to control and saturate the streaming companies and airwaves.” He additionally claimed Spotify supplied the label “drastically diminished charges” to make Lamar’s diss observe seem extra profitable than it actually was. In line with the Views artist, Interscope Information executives merely needed to “maximize their very own earnings.”
“The suggestion that UMG would do something to undermine any of its artists is offensive and unfaithful,” a spokesperson for the music conglomerate responded. “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.”
Spotify, for its half, said it had “no financial incentive for customers to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks.” Of their assertion, they defined, “Solely one in all Spotify for Artists’ instruments, Marquee, was bought on behalf of the track, for €500 to advertise the observe in France. Marquee is a visible advert that’s disclosed to customers as a Sponsored Advice.”
It’s price mentioning that Drake’s second petition in opposition to UMG, filed in Texas, stays lively, with a listening to set for later this month. Initially scheduled for Monday (Jan. 13), it was postponed to Jan. 28. In that exact authorized motion, he argued that UMG distributed “Not Like Us” with the information that it “falsely” accused him of being a pedophile.
Since lodging the 2 petitions, a stunning variety of artists have voiced their help for Drake. 50 Cent, as an illustration, instructed Andrew Schulz on the “Flagrant” podcast, “Every thing he stated [UMG] did in that lawsuit, they did it.” Russ additionally weighed in, stating that Spotify “outing main labels is a lose-lose for everybody concerned.”