Rapper Drake has accused Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) of inflating Kendrick Lamar’s streaming numbers, but a recent court filing from Spotify denies any wrongdoing. According to the statement, Spotify and UMG have never had an arrangement to artificially inflate streams or use bots to manipulate numbers.
Spotify claims that Drake’s lawsuit is “far-fetched” and “speculative,” with his lawyers saying that he is trying to bypass normal judicial process by extracting information through a pre-action discovery request. The company argues that if they had something to hide, they would comply with the request.
The dispute began when Drake filed two lawsuits in quick succession – one accusing UMG of inflating Lamar’s streaming numbers and another alleging defamation from the rapper’s lyrics. However, Universal Music Group has not yet responded with a filing of their own.
Representatives for Drake say that Spotify’s decision to distance itself from UMG is not surprising, as they claim that UMG’s practices are “manipulative.” The situation has raised eyebrows, particularly since Drake is signed to UMG’s Republic Records label.
Source: https://www.avclub.com/drake-universal-spotify-lawsuit-response