A new lawsuit claims Drake has benefited from billions of fraudulent Spotify streams
Did they turn the six upside down, it’s a nine now?
In the latest legal iteration of the Spider-Man pointing at Spider-Man meme, a class action lawsuit filed in California this week accuses Drake of benefiting from billions of fraudulent Spotify streams. The lawsuit comes shortly after a judge dismissed Drake’s lawsuit against Universal Music Group, which accused the label (his own, we should note) of artificially inflating streams of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track about him.
Related: “He’s not coming at Kendrick”—Everything to know about Drake’s “Not Like Us” lawsuit
The new lawsuit claims that Spotify has been complicit in enabling fake streams, which result in big payouts for marquee artists. It does not accuse Drake of any direct involvement, and he is not a named party. A Spotify spokesperson denied the allegations and said the company actively combats fraudulent streaming. The lawsuit names American rapper RBX as a plaintiff, “on behalf of other members of the general public similarly situated.”
“Every month, under Spotify’s watchful eye, billions of fraudulent streams are generated from fake, illegitimate, and/or illegal methods,” says the filing, referring to internet bots. Mass-scale streaming fraud “causes massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers, and other rights holders,” it continues, according to Rolling Stone.
A California-based lawsuit name-checking Drake right after a Californian baseball team dashed Toronto’s World Series hopes? Rough start to the week for the 6ix God.
Related: Drake was spotted driving an ice delivery truck around downtown Toronto
Carly Lewis is a journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times and the New York Times Magazine, Vanity Fair, Wired, Interview Magazine, Pitchfork, Elle, and Maclean’s, where she is a contributing editor. Her work has been recognized by the National Magazine Awards and the Digital Publishing Awards. She reports on city life, culture—including what people do online—politics, art and crime. She received the Dave Greber Freelance Writers Award for “The Murder of Ashley Wadsworth,” an investigative feature about a Canadian teenager who was killed by a man she met on social media, published by Maclean’s.
