{"id":18967,"date":"2024-11-26T09:26:14","date_gmt":"2024-11-26T09:26:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18967"},"modified":"2024-11-26T09:26:14","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T09:26:14","slug":"drake-files-lawsuit-over-kendrick-lamars-not-like-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/?p=18967","title":{"rendered":"Drake files lawsuit over Kendrick Lamar\u2019s Not Like Us"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Drake\u2019s company accused Universal Music and Spotify of engaging in an illegal \u201dscheme\u201d to promote Lamar\u2019s song<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Drake has launched legal action against Universal Music and Spotify, accusing them of artificially boosting streams of Kendrick Lamar\u2019s diss track against him, Not Like Us.<\/p>\n

In papers filed in New York<\/a>, Drake\u2019s company, Frozen Moments LLC, accused the companies of engaging in an illegal \u201dscheme\u201d involving bots, payola and other methods to promote Lamar\u2019s song. <\/p>\n

Universal Music \u201ddid not rely on chance,\u201d Drake\u2019s lawyers alleged. \u201cIt instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.\u201d<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Universal called the claims \u201coffensive and untrue\u201d, adding that \u201cfans choose the music they want to hear\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Spotify and Lamar have yet to respond.<\/p>\n

The petition is not a full lawsuit but a so-called \u201cpre-action petition\u201d, under which Drake\u2019s lawyers can to ask the court to order Universal and Spotify to preserve all relevant documents and information, ahead of future legal action. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"GettyGetty Images<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Kendrick Lamar released a surprise new album called GNX last week<\/figcaption><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n
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Not Like Us was widely seen as the decisive blow in an escalating rap beef between Drake and Lamar earlier this year. <\/p>\n

Drake\u2019s court filing highlights the song\u2019s runaway success – 96 million streams in seven days, number one in the US charts, and a top 10 radio hit – but suggests those achievements were artificially inflated.<\/p>\n

His lawyers claim that Universal \u201cconspired with and paid currently unknown parties\u201d to \u201cartificially\u201d boost the prominence of Not Like Us. <\/p>\n

They allege that the label cut its royalty rates for the song by 30%, in exchange for Spotify recommending it to users.<\/p>\n

The filing also cites supposed claims from a \u201cwhistleblower\u201d on a podcast, who said they were paid $2,500 to set up software \u201dbots\u201d that would stream the song on repeat, turning it into \u201ca crazy hit\u201d.<\/p>\n

The effort spread to other streaming services, Drake\u2019s lawyers allege, referencing online reports that fans who asked Apple\u2019s voice assistant to play Drake\u2019s album Certified Loverboy were instead delivered Not Like Us.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Drake loyalists \u2018fired\u2019<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
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The legal filing is a surprising coda to the musicians\u2019 feud, but it also represents a rift between Drake and Universal – the label that has represented him for his entire career. <\/p>\n

In court documents, the star\u2019s lawyers say he tried to address these allegations in private but that the label has \u201cno interest in taking responsibility for its misconduct.\u201d <\/p>\n

Furthermore, they claim Universal made \u201can apparent effort to conceal its schemes\u201d, which included firing staff \u201cperceived as having loyalty to Drake\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cStreaming is a zero-sum game,\u201d they argue. \u201cEvery time a song breaks through, it means another artist does not.\u201d As a result, they claim, Drake suffered \u201ceconomic harm\u201d at Lamar\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson for Universal rejected the claims. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,\u201d they said in a statement. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The legal filing came days after Lamar released a surprise album, GNX, which is widely seen as a follow-up to Not Like Us.<\/p>\n

His diss track was recently nominated for four Grammy awards, including song of the year, and he has been booked to play next year\u2019s Super Bowl halftime show.<\/p>\n

However, he lags behind Drake in terms of popularity. On Spotify, the rapper is the 23rd most-streamed artist in the world, while Drake places 13th.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Source: <\/em> www.bbc.com\u2026<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Getty Images Drake\u2019s company accused Universal Music and Spotify of engaging in an illegal \u201dscheme\u201d to promote Lamar\u2019s song Drake has launched legal action against Universal Music and Spotify, accusing them of artificially boosting streams of Kendrick Lamar\u2019s diss track against him, Not Like Us. In papers filed in New York, Drake\u2019s company, Frozen Moments […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18967","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18967","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18967"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18967\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18967"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18967"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gpt.m2mbeta.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18967"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}