Spotify hits back at Drake's claims about Kendrick Lamar 'Not Like Us' streaming scheme

Spotify has responded to being named in Drake's legal filings, which alleged the music service worked with Universal Music Group to "artificially inflate" the popularity of Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us."

"This proceeding arises out of a long-running feud between the popular recording artists Aubrey Drake Graham (p/k/a “Drake”) and Kendrick Lamar Duckworth," Spotify's Friday filing in New York County Supreme Court, obtained by USA TODAY, reads.

Spotify's lawyer describes the company as "a stranger to this fracas" and notes only a few of the claims in Drake's Nov. 25 petition – including one that alleges it agreed to recommend "Not Like Us" on its service in exchange for a discounted royalty rate – were aimed at the streaming service.

The company denies making this agreement and asks the judge to deny Drake's request for all parties to hand over evidence related to his claims, otherwise known as pre-action discovery, so he could file a legal complaint. Drake's petition "relies exclusively on speculation ... or the claims of anonymous individuals on the internet" in its claims, Spotify says in its filing.

As such, Spotify should be dismissed from the case and the "burden" of pre-action discovery, per the filing.

In response to Spotify's filing, Drake's legal team at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP said in a statement that “It is not surprising that Spotify is trying to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of one of its other artists."

"If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide then they should be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request," the statement continued.

UMG previously denied Drake's allegations.

"The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue," UMG said in a statement to USA TODAY on Nov. 25. "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."

What did Drake claim in his legal petitions?

In two different filings in New York and Texas last month, Drake accused UMG – which distributes music for both Drake and Lamar – of scheming to popularize Lamar's diss track, which in turn allegedly harmed Drake and his businesses. The New York petition was aimed at UMG and Spotify, while the Texas case targeted UMG and iHeartRadio.

“UMG charged Spotify licensing rates 30 percent lower than its usual licensing rates for ‘Not Like Us’ in exchange for Spotify affirmatively recommending the Song to users who are searching for other unrelated songs and artists," Drake's New York petition alleged.

"Streaming and licensing is a zero-sum game. Every time a song 'breaks through,' it means another artist does not," the petition said. "UMG’s choice to saturate the music market with 'Not Like Us' comes at the expense of its other artists, like Drake."

Spotify's lawyer hit back at this claim in Friday's filing, stating, "The Petition does not cite any evidence that Drake’s music became less popular, let alone purport to identify by how much. In fact, Drake was the second most popular artist on Spotify in the U.S. in 2024, behind only Taylor Swift."

However, "Not Like Us" was named the second most popular song streamed in the U.S., behind Sabrina Carpenter's "Espresso," according to Spotify's announcement earlier this month. Lamar was the seventh most popular artist streamed in the country.

Spotify responds to allegation about bots inflating 'Not Like Us' streaming numbers

David Kaefer, Spotify's vice president and head of music and audiobooks business, filed an affirmation stating Spotify has "no evidence to substantiate" one of the claims in Drake's petition about bots inflating the streaming numbers for "Not Like Us" on the platform.

"Spotify invests heavily in automated and manual reviews to prevent, detect, and mitigate the impact of artificial streaming on our platform," Kaefer wrote.

"When we identify attempted stream manipulation, we take action that may include removing streaming numbers, withholding royalties and charging penalty fees. Confirmed and suspected artificial streams are also removed from our chart calculations. This helps us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists."

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Spotify hits back at Drake's Kendrick Lamar streaming scheme claims