A University of Toronto music professor says Drake’s petitions against Universal Music Group (UMG) criticizing its distribution of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” raises concerns regarding integrity within the music industry.
On Tuesday, the Canadian rapper filed a second petition against UMG in Texas, alleging the company was aware the song falsely accused him of pedophilia but did not hinder its release.
This comes just one day after he filed his first petition in New York under his company Frozen Moments, LLC, inciting UMG of colluding with Spotify to falsely boost airplay of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us,” following the long-standing feud between the rappers that began earlier in March.
In a new petition filed Tuesday, the rapper says UMG proceeded to distribute the track despite the false allegations of pedophilia.
“UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations,” Drake’s lawyers said.
The petitions act as pre-action filings aimed at retrieving depositions from certain players at UMG and iHeart to gain more information that could support a future lawsuit.
The second petition filed on Nov. 26 also claims UMG made “funneled payments” to iHeart Radio, as part of a “pay-to-play scheme” to promote the song on the radio.
However, UMG disputes that claim.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. 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,” the music company said in a statement to media on Monday.
Currently, Drake and Lamar own their own masters and have their own production companies, however they also have deals with Universal to distribute their music.
Lamar’s “Not Like Us” has become one of the most successful diss tracks of all times, breaking a Spotify streaming record and earning him a number one spot on the Hot Billboard 100 as well as five Grammy nominations for 2025. In addition, he is also performing at the upcoming Super Bowl Halftime Show on Feb. 9.
On Monday, Drake also officially announced his return to Australia for the Anita Max Wynn Tour that is set to kick off on the same day as the Super Bowl, his first visit after eight years.
MUSIC PROFESSOR BREAKS IT DOWN
University of Toronto Adjunct Professor in the Music Technology & Digital Media Program Catherine Moore says the petitions could expose the inner workings of the company’s automated playlists.
“There’s a difference between a listener actively choosing what they listen to on a streaming service and what a passive listener gets fed via automated playlists. It would be interesting to know the percentages for each type of stream for ’Not Like Us,’ whether passively fed or actively chosen. If there is a way to identify a ‘bot stream’ then that would be a type of stream,” she explained to Now Toronto on Tuesday.
The court filing includes a reference to third parties that were paid by UMG to use bots in order to achieve 30,000,000 streams on Spotify in the first days of the song’s release with the goal of “jumpstarting” its spread.
“This, in turn, may help non-superstar artists understand more clearly how their revenue from streaming services and their labels deals is calculated,” Moore said.
Moore adds that streaming services should find ways to disallow “bot listeners” because in this case, rightsholders would have no confidence that they are being paid accurately.
“It’s my understanding that ‘pay to play’ is not in itself illegal. As long as it’s clear to listeners that the play is being paid for by a label or an artist or a brand, it’s allowed,” she said.
“When that information is hidden from listeners — who are then likely to assume that the music has been chosen by an impartial tastemaker or by other fans — then that crosses over into activity resembling a bribe (and often called ‘payola’),” she concluded.
