Drake accuses label of using bots to 'artificially inflate' Kendrick Lamar's 'Not Like Us' on Spotify

NEW YORK — Musician Drake alleges that Universal Music Group “conspired” to artificially boost Kendrick Lamar’s fiery track “Not Like Us” on Spotify, according to a preliminary petition filed Monday in a New York court.

According to a copy of the petition obtained by CNN, the rapper alleges that UMG “launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate streaming services and airwaves” with Lamar’s song “in order to make that song go viral, including by the use of ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.”

The song, part of what has become a very public feud between Lamar and the “Hotline Bling” rapper, debuted at No. 1 on the Hot 100 when it was released in May, according to Billboard. It has also amassed nearly 900 million streams on Spotify to date, according to the petition.

Drake also claims that UMG used these “bots,” which are essentially fake social media accounts, “to artificially inflate the spread of ‘Not Like Us’ and deceive consumers into believing that Song- ul is more popular than it actually was”.

The petition does not accuse Lamar of any wrongdoing.

Drake is currently represented by Republic Records, a division of UMG, and Lamar is currently represented by Interscope records, also a division of UMG.

“The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We use the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns,” a UMG spokesperson told CNN in a statement on Monday. “No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action filing can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

CNN has reached out to representatives for Drake, Lamar and Spotify for comment.

The petition, filed by attorneys representing Drake’s Frozen Moments LLC, describes several tactics Drake alleges UMG used to falsely promote “Not Like Us” on music streams and radio stations, including a known illegal practice under the name “payola”, where a record company essentially pays for airplay.

Drake’s petition accuses UMG of paying an independent radio promoter to act as a middleman, who then paid other radio stations to boost airplay for Lamar’s song. The petition also alleges that UMG paid Apple, or approved payments to the company, to intentionally use its voice-activated assistant Siri to misdirect users to “We don’t like it.”

Apple is not named as a party to the action or the target of any discovery, but CNN has reached out to Apple for comment.

Drake alleges that UMG was motivated to inflate the song’s popularity, in part, “to maximize their own profits,” the petition states, and that the label “rejected” Drake’s attempt to work together to resolve the “evil continuous that it has. suffered”.

He filed the pre-action petition Monday to request other documents as he prepares to file legal action.

Both rappers, who are former collaborators, have released several diss tracks amid their feud that took place earlier this year. “Not Like Us” became the most successful song spawned from the feud and earned three Grammy nominations earlier this month.