2024-11-26 21:41:00
Canadian rapper Drake entered into a legal battle against the Universal Music Group (UMG)o Spotify ea Appleclaiming there is a conspiracy to artificially inflate reproduction numbers (streams) of the song “Not Like Us”of Kendrick Lamar.
Second the petition [PDF] presented in a Manhattan court (New York, United States), Drake claims that UMG and its partners resorted to fraud schemes payola (the famous “jabá”), bots and other tactics to promote Lamar’s track, which is openly critical of him.
One of the main points of the petition is the accusation that UMG paid Apple so that Siri intentionally targeted users searching for Drake’s album, “Certified Lover Boy”for Lamar’s track — but only on Spotify, as the correct correspondence is made on Apple Music.
The rapper’s company argues that this manipulation misled users and contributed to the artificial popularity of “Not Like Us”. According to the petition, Apple would play an important role in these actions, benefiting Lamar at Drake’s expense.
There are indications that UMG used similar tactics with other streaming services. On information and belief, UMG paid, or approved payments, to Apple Inc. for its voice-activated digital assistant, Siri, to intentionally direct users to “Not Like Us”. Online sources reported that when users asked Siri to play the album “Certified Lover Boy”by artist Aubrey Drake Graham, known as Drake, the assistant played “Not Like Us”which contains the letter “certified pedophile” (“certified pedophile”), an accusation against Drake.
Breaking several records, the song topped the Billboard charts, accumulated more than 900 million plays on Spotify and received 5 Grammy nominations. Launched last May, it is one of several tracks diss released during the prolonged feud between Drake and Lamar, which has been going on since the early 2010s.
This preliminary petition aims to request more information from UMG, Spotify and Apple, while Drake evaluates the possibility of taking formal legal action.
It is important to highlight that, at this moment, this is not yet a judicial process, but an initial step to gather evidence that can support a possible future process based on the Federal Law on Corrupt Organizations and Organized Crime Influenced (RICO, its acronym in English).
UMG, which represents both artists, denied all allegations. A spokesperson for the record company stated to Entertainment Weekly that the company follows “the strictest ethical practices” in its promotional campaigns, calling Drake’s accusations “offensive and false.” Apple, Spotify and Lamar’s representatives declined to comment.
via AppleInsider
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