Drake withdraws legal petition accusing Spotify and Universal Music of artificially inflating his rival Kendrick Lamar’s ‘Not Like Us’
Drake has decided to retract his petition against Spotify and Universal Music Group, following his allegations that these companies orchestrated an unlawful “scheme” to enhance the streaming numbers for Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us.”
In a court filing in New York on Tuesday, January 14, which was reviewed by Variety, Drake and his Frozen Moments company rescinded their request for pre-action disclosure and the preservation of specific documents and communications from both entities. The court documents indicate that Drake met with representatives on Tuesday, and Spotify, which had opposed the petition, did not object to its withdrawal. Meanwhile, UMG, which had not filed an opposition, chose to reserve its stance.
Drake stirred controversy in November 2024 when he initially accused UMG, the distributor for both his and Lamar’s music, of employing bots and payola to artificially inflate the popularity of “Not Like Us,” a track that makes serious allegations against Drake, including paedophilia and cultural appropriation.
The petition, which was more of a preliminary action than a full lawsuit, asserted that UMG “engaged in conduct aimed at artificially boosting the popularity of ‘Not Like Us’… including licensing the song at significantly reduced rates to Spotify and utilizing ‘bots’ to create a misleading impression of the song’s popularity.”
At the time, UMG issued a statement to Variety, firmly rejecting Drake’s claims. “The notion that UMG would take any action to undermine any of its artists is both offensive and false,” the statement read.
“We 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.”
Spotify took their objection to court by filing opposition papers in late December.
“Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream ‘Not Like Us’ over any of Drake’s tracks,” a spokesperson said. “Only one of Spotify for Artists’ tools, Marquee, was purchased on behalf of the song, for €500 to promote the track in France. Marquee is a visual ad that is disclosed to users as a Sponsored Recommendation.”
The streaming platform also asserted that UMG and Spotify “have never had any arrangement in which UMG ‘charged Spotify licensing rates 30 percent lower than its usual licensing rates for ‘Not Like Us’ in exchange for Spotify affirmatively recommending [“Not Like Us”],’ including to users who are searching for other songs and artists.”
Drake’s legal representatives issued a statement in response to Spotify’s recent filing, asserting, “It’s no surprise that Spotify is attempting to distance itself from UMG’s purportedly deceptive practices aimed at artificially boosting streaming figures for one of its other artists. If both Spotify and UMG have nothing to conceal, they should have no issue complying with this straightforward discovery request.”
This entire situation arose from a fiery exchange of diss tracks between Lamar and Drake, sparked by Lamar’s verse on Future and Metro Boomin’s “Like That” in March 2024. Following their series of back-and-forth tracks, it was Lamar’s “Not Like Us” that emerged as the standout hit from their lyrical feud.
