Drake is slated for a court date for his petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify after filing pre-action petitions against both companies.
The date is scheduled for December 20, Kurrco reported.
Last month, “The 6 God” first initiated legal action against UMG and Spotify. According to reports, Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC claims that the scheme involved bots and payola to inflate the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us.”
“UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices,” the petition read. “It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves.”
Drake also filed a second suit against Universal Music Group, alleging defamation over Kendrick Lamar‘s track “Not Like Us.”
Funk Flex came out in support of Drake following the petitions being filed.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Flex shared his thoughts on pay-for-play in the record industry.
DRAKE IS 100% RIGHT!” he wrote in part on X. “NATIONAL PLAY! (PER SONG) DRAKE DONT $ FOR PLAY! POP / CHR RADIO: $350k URBAN RADIO: $250K MIXSHOW: $100K LOCAL MIXSHOW DIRECTOR: $40k LOCAL DJ: $3K-5K PER SONG!
Interestingly, Drake has been signed to UMG for his entire career. He began with Lil Wayne’s Young Money label, which was distributed by Republic Records. Eventually, signed a new deal with Republic.
Kendrick has also been with UMG for the entirety of his career. First with the TDE label which was distributed by Interscope. After launching his own company, pgLang, it was licensed through Interscope.
Responding to Drake’s petition, Universal Music Group released an official statement.
“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue,” the statement read. “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.”
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