Drake discovers his court date for UMG ‘Not Like Us’ hearing
On November 25th, Canadian emcee Drake filed a “pre-action” petition in New York aimed at his own record label, Universal Music Group (UMG). The filing alleged that the company used streaming bots to artificially inflate the streams of Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’. Drizzy also filed a notion in Texas that took aim at both Spotify and iHeartRadio, alleging that radio stations were involved in a pay-to-play scheme.
The petition, filed in Bexar County, Texas, will be heard by a judge on December 20th. The ruling will determine whether Drake will be allowed to depose and question the employees of iHeartRadio and UMG.
Drake’s Manhattan pre-action filing will be heard by a judge on January 16th, 2025. If the verdict is in the musician’s favour, Spotify and Universal Music Group will have to preserve any documents or messages relevant to their promotion of ‘Not Like Us.’
With this information available, Drake’s legal team will look to build a case against both companies and, following this, will have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that both institutions are guilty of using bots and more.
The legal letter filed in Manhattan reads, “UMG did not rely on chance or even ordinary business practices. It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.” The filing also alleges that the record label paid Spotify to promote ‘Not Like Us’ to users searching for unrelated songs and artists.
The petition also mentions Apple, claiming that UMG paid the technology company to redirect users looking for Drake songs to Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’. It also alleges the company used bots to boost ‘Not Like Us’ on Apple Music.
The Texas case is similar, but adds iHeartRadio to the list of companies at issue. Furthermore, the petition filed in Bexar also alleges that by promoting ‘Not Like Us’ UMG engaged in defamation of his character.
If a judge rules that Drake is allowed to depose employees of Spotify and iHeartRadio. In that case, his lawyers must prove that Universal Music Group offered special licensing rates to Spotify and iHeartRadio to maximise the diss track’s exposure and radio play.
So far, the potential for a lawsuit has not stopped the popularity of ‘Not Like Us’ and, if anything, has boosted its popularity across all streaming platforms, especially Spotify. UMG have already responded to Drizzy’s claims, which they have labelled as “contrived and absurd legal arguments.”