Drake drops ‘Not Like Us’ petition against UMG and Spotify

Drake has withdrawn the petition he started accusing Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG) of illegally boosting Kendrick Lamar’s dissident track, “Not Like Us.” According to documents filed Tuesday with the New York Supreme Court, the pre-action case is being dismissed without any financial cost to any of the parties involved.

The motion, or “pre-action filing,” is not a full-fledged trial: it refers to a stage of litigation that requests information from each party and allows time for issues to be resolved before disputes are brought before the courts.

The legal petition filed by Drake (real name: Aubrey Graham) in November claimed that Spotify and UMG – the parent label that represents both him and Lamar – used “bots,” discounted licensing fees and back-up deals. pay-to-play to artificially inflate. streaming numbers for Lamar’s song. The diss track, aimed at Drake, became a viral hit following a feud between the two artists last year that attracted considerable attention.

A second legal motion was also filed by Drake in November, accusing UMG of funneling payments to iHeartRadio to promote Lamar’s diss track. Drake’s lawyers said the song, which describes Drake as a “certified pedophile,” a “predator” and someone who should “be recorded and placed on neighborhood watch,” was defamatory, claiming the damage to Drake’s reputation should have prevented UMG. to free him.

While the first preliminary proceeding against Spotify and UMG is now resolved, the second petition against UMG and iHeartRadio is still active. Spotify had already filed an opposition to the first motion and did not object to Drake withdrawing the pre-action filing. UMG, which had not filed an opposition, “reserved its position”.