Drake accuses UMG, Spotify of inflating Kendrick Lamar song, Variety says

Popular rapper and recording artist Drake is pursuing legal action against Universal Music Group (UMGNF) over claims that the company conspired using Spotify (SPOT) to artificially inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us,” Variety’s Jem Aswad reports. In a filing in Manhattan court, Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC claimed UMG, which distributes both artists’ recordings, engaged in an illegal “scheme” involving bots, payola, and other methods to boost the numbers of “Not Like Us,” in which Lamar accuses Drake of pedophilia, the author notes. In a response, a UMG representative told Variety, “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.”