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Universal Music Deems Drake’s Lawsuit Claims “Offensive” And “Untrue”

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Drake has enemies, he’s got a lot of enemies. 2024 has seen the rapper go to war with pretty every other superstar rapper in the world. He beat some of them, and he lost to Kendrick Lamar. Drake decided to go after a bigger target on November 25, though. The Toronto rapper filed a petition against his own record label, Universal Music Group. He accused the label of using an illegal “scheme” to inflate the numbers of Kendrick Lamar’s diss record “Not Like Us” on Spotify. UMG has responded to the 6 God via Variety, and the record label did not mince words.

UMG dismissed every allegation the rapper made in his lawsuit. “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.” Universal Music Group went on to criticize Drake for blaming his loss in the Kendrick Lamar battle on “schemes” rather than quality of music. It was an unexpected, and unexpectedly brutal addition to a statement that otherwise keeps it professional. “No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission,” the statement added. “Can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

Read More: Drake Nabs Eight BBMA Nominations Despite His Difficult Year

UMG Claimed Fans Chose Kendrick Lamar Over Drake

The theory that Kendrick Lamar’s team used bots to boost “Not Like Us” has circulated online since the song was released. Drake supporters like DJ Akademiks have championed this theory during live streams and even interviewed self-described “hackers” who claimed to have been paid by Lamar’s team. Nothing concrete has surfaced thus far. Drake mostly stayed away from commenting on the “bots” theory during and after the battle. This is partially why so many are surprised that he has decided to take legal action. And not against Lamar’s label, but his own.

The cultural momentum continues to swing Lamar’s way and not Drizzy’s. The former dropped his album GNX to critical acclaim on November 22. Fans praised the production and Lamar’s return to making bops following the purposely dense Mr. Morale and the Big Steppers (2022). Drake, meanwhile, was clowned for his recent appearance on an xQc live stream in which he tried to throw shots at Lamar and Kung Fu Kenny friends like Steve Lacy.

Read More: Kanye West’s Claims About Lucian Grange Resurface Amidst Drake Lawsuit

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Kanye West’s Claims About Lucian Grange Resurface Amidst Drake Lawsuit

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Drake had already been criticized for his handling of the Kendrick Lamar battle. It was widely assumed that the Toronto superstar lost the battle, despite turning in some impressive diss records. The decision he made on Monday, November 25, however, soured this silver lining. Drake filed a legal petition against his own record label, UMG, and accused them of serious wrongdoing in the Lamar battle. These claims have shocked and disappointed fans. Some, however, have noted that Kanye West alluded to tension between Drizzy and UMG months ago.

Kanye West gave a lengthy interview on The Download Podcast at the peak of the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle in April. He previewed a remix of the Dot-featuring single “Like That,” in which he called out UMG CEO Lucian Grainge by name. “Where’s Lucian? Serve your master, n**ga,” he rapped. “You caught a little bag for your masters, didn’t ya?. Lifetime deal, I feel bad for n**gas.” West provided context for the bars during the interview. He claimed that Grainge is Drake’s “rich baby daddy,” alluding to Drake’s song of the same name.

Read More: Kanye West Accused Of Assaulting Model Jenn An In New Lawsuit

Kanye West Called Grainge Drake’s “Rich Baby Daddy”

“Drake has a rich baby daddy named Lucian and Universal,” Kanye West alleged. “He’s like, ‘man, my daddy got it. My daddy control the spins. My daddy got the DSPs. Drake has a rich baby daddy.” Kanye West claimed that Drake’s music has become so commodified and controlled by the so called “machine” that it no longer connects with listeners. This is especially the cast, he felt, with regard to Kendrick Lamar disses. “Drop and give me 50, ain’t nobody gonna drop and do sh*t,” West said. “Your raps don’t mean sh*t.”

Kanye West has made lots of inflammatory statements during his career. At this point, he’s better known for saying controversial things than he is making great music. That said, Drake’s decision to file a lawsuit against UMG and Spotify has fans second guessing West’s allegations on The Download. The response to Drake’s lawsuit has not been positive, with many feeling the 6 God is reacting extremely poorly to his loss in the Kendrick Lamar battle. Perhaps West will get his dream of seeing an “eliminated” Drake after all.

Read More: Kanye West’s “Carnival” Producer Goes Scorched Earth On Social Media For Being Left Off The Credits

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Drake Has Filed A Lawsuit Accusing UMG Of Colluding With Kendrick Lamar Against Him

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Drake doesn’t think the success of “Not Like Us” was totally organic. Months after Kendrick Lamar’s Mustard-produced diss track dominated the charts and utterly derailed Drake’s plans for 2024 — which he was supposed to take off, anyway — Drake has filed a complaint in Manhattan court, claiming that the song’s streaming success was the result of collusion between Universal Music Group and Kendrick at his expense. The suit alleges UMG violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act and New York state laws against deceptive business practices and false advertising in the process.

Frozen Moments LLC, Drake’s corporate entity filed the suit today, arguing that UMG — which represents both rappers through licensing agreements — employed bots and payola schemes to inflate the numbers for “Not Like Us.” According to Frozen Moments attorneys, UMG “paid” Spotify — by charging “30 percent less than its usual licensing rates” — to recommend “Not Like Us” to users who weren’t even searching for it (or even similar songs), and did the same with Apple, so listeners requesting Drake songs via Siri would instead hear “Not Like Us.” In order to hide these practices, UMG supposedly fired employees perceived as loyal to Drake.

While it’s unclear why UMG would favor Kendrick Lamar over Drake, the roots of Drake’s dispute appear to stem from legit consumer complaints about DSPs pushing popular songs to listeners who don’t even want them, such as Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso,” which received pushback for appearing on auto-generated Spotify playlists even after fans took steps to stop the app doing so. However, opening that particular can of worms might not be to Drake’s benefit, even if he thinks it’ll gain him some vindication after waving the white flag in his war of words against the Compton prophet.

Drake Hits UMG & Spotify With Bombshell Allegations Over Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” Streams

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Drake is taking legal action against Universal Music Group and Spotify with allegations that the two companies worked together to artificially boost the popularity of Kendrick Lamar’s viral diss track, “Not Like Us.” Through his company, Frozen Moments LLC, the Toronto rapper is accusing UMG of using bots and payola, among other methods in what he describes as an “illegal” scheme. According to Billboard, the filing doesn’t constitute a lawsuit, but instead a “pre-action” petition.

Read More: Drake Reportedly Laughed The First Time He Heard This “Not Like Us” Bar

This story is being updated.

Read More: Drake Maintains Most-Streamed Rapper Title Despite Kendrick Lamar’s Success

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Playboi Carti Scores Legal Win In UMG Copyright Case Over Incorrect Takedown

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Playboi Carti and Universal Music Group (UMG) just dodged a huge legal bullet thanks to a new ruling from a federal judge. Moreover, this case stems from the aforementioned artist and label taking down a song from G-Baby which uses the same beat from Carti and Pi’erre Bourne’s “Right Now.” However, G-Baby actually released his song “Oi!” before “Right Now” and did so with a legal license to use this same beat. The judge in this matter ruled that the “FIELD TRIP” creative and UMG didn’t violate the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) when they mistakenly took “Oi!” down since they didn’t intend to do so.

Furthermore, this ruling emerged on Tuesday (August 27) amid an update in last year’s lawsuit from G-Baby against Playboi Carti and UMG. The suit claimed that this takedown violated the DMCA’s stipulations protecting creators from improper takedowns. However, the judge in this ruling cited that previous decisions indicate how these safeguards only apply to intentionally irresponsible uses of the legal framework to shut other products down. As such, it seems like the “No Face” MC (which might appear on streaming services soon) will be in the clear.

Read More: Playboi Carti Tries To Explain Himself In Wild Body Cam Footage Of Traffic Stop

Playboi Carti Performing At Wireless Festival 2023

Playboi Carti Lawsuit UMG Copyright Take Down Hip Hop News
LONDON, ENGLAND – JULY 07: (EDITORIAL USE ONLY) Playboi Carti performs during day one of Wireless Festival 2023 at Finsbury Park on July 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Joseph Okpako/WireImage/Getty Images)

“Because the DMCA requires only a good faith belief that material is infringing, a copyright holder is not liable for misrepresentation under the DMCA if they subjectively believe the identified material infringes their copyright, even if that belief is ultimately mistaken,” Judge Analisa Torres expressed. She also explained how G-Baby admitted that the UMG employee who took “Oi!” down didn’t know that he licensed the beat that Playboi Carti also used. “This admission alone dooms [G-Baby’s] claim against UMG,” Torres posited. Hopefully Carti and The Weeknd don’t face these issues on their supposed next collab.

Back to the story at hand: “[G-Baby] cites no caselaw for the proposition that one employee’s knowledge that a use may be non-infringing should be imputed to another employee who independently issues a takedown notice on behalf of the company,” the judge ruled. “Although [Playboi Carti] may well have been aware of (and displeased with) [G-Baby’s] license to use the beat, [G-Baby] has failed to establish that [Carti] had any part in the takedown notices.” We’ll see what happens next for one of Complex‘s best Atlanta rappers of all time.

Read More: Iggy Azalea Seemingly Mocks Playboi Carti’s Baby Voice In New Ad

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Drake Slapped With Copyright Strike After Dropping Unreleased Music

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Drake dominated the news cycle when he dropped “100 Gigs” on our collective headtops. The rollout worked, as fans sifted through unreleased footage and reactive positively to new collabs with Latto and 21 Savage. The only problem was, Drake’s label did not appreciate the drop. Universal Music Group, aka UMG, issued a copyright strike against the rapper on August 9. They ensured that the three new songs Drake put out were taken down. They are no longer available to stream on the rapper’s official website.

The copyright strike was actually confirmed by Drake himself. The rapper took to his recently revealed Finsta account, @plottttwistttttt, to share the notification he received from UMG. The screenshot stated that access to the content had been restricted due to reports from a third party. The third party, being, of course, Drizzy’s label. It’s currently unknown which new song triggered the copyright strike on the part of UMG. The only song that’s gained traction, “It’s Up,” has done so due to 21 Savage’s combative verse.

Read More: Drake Reposts A Tweet Ruthlessly Clowning J Cole On His Finsta Account

Drake Signed A Massive Deal With UMG In 2021

Drizzy’s relationship with UMG has been a topic of speculation in recent years. The rapper reportedly signed a “LeBron-Sized” deal with the label back in 2021. Variety reported that the deal incorporated every facet of Drake’s business: recordings, publishing and merchandise. Neither UMG nor Drake has divulged the specific dollar amount that was agreed upon. The latter, however, did allude to owning his own masters on the 2021 song “The Remorse.” Drake has not spoken publicly about his interactions with UMG, but it was widely theorized that the label got involved in the recent battle involving Kendrick Lamar.

TMZ claimed that UMG was putting a halt to the Drake and Kendrick Lamar beef in May. A supposed leak stated that the label was concerned about the impact the beef would have on the rapper’s sales. “Drake is losing the beef in UMG’s eyes,” the document read. “So from UMG’s perspective, the sooner than this beef ends the better.” Despite gaining some traction online, UMG quickly shut down the rumor. The reps for the label asserted that they had no involvement in the battle. “Kendrick and Drake’s beef is between them,” their statement noted. “UMG just doesn’t think it’s their place to step in either way.”

Read More: Drake Flooded The Internet With New Material And Fans Are Overwhelmed

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UMG Denies Intervening In Drake And Kendrick Lamar Battle

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Never has a rap battle been saddled with so many conspiracy theories and false leads. Drake and Kendrick Lamar has not only had to contend with fake diss songs, but they’ve spread information about the other person without providing concrete evidence. The misinformation spree continued on May 7. Drake’s record label, UMG, was accused of stepping in and putting an end to the battle because the rapper was “losing.” A document surfaced online with a list of steps UMG has taken to end things.

The document in question claimed that UMG asked The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar to end their battle with Drake. It detailed Zoom meetings with the artists’ respective labels, and claims that UMG was losing money over Drake’s pedophile allegations. “Drake is losing the beef in UMG’s eyes,” the document read. “So from UMG’s perspective, the sooner than this beef ends the better.” It didn’t take long for real UMG reps to speak out and state that none of these actions have been taken.

Read More: DJ Akademiks Relays Message From Drake After Shooting: “He’s Okay”

UMG Has No Plans To Interfere With Drake And Kendrick Lamar

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by DJ Akademiks (@akademiks)

UMG, which is short for Universal Music Group, issued a denial to TMZ. The label has never considered getting involved in the Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar battle. “Kendrick and Drake’s beef is between them and completely separate from the business side of things,” TMZ reported. “And UMG just doesn’t think it’s their place to step in either way.” It’s easy to see why UMG is staying clear. The label is reaping the benefiting from the battle with historic streaming numbers.

Drake and Kendrick Lamar will draw over 250 million streams in the United States this week. This means that the handful of releases between will make up a staggering 20% of all streams on the Billboard Hot 100. Firstly, Drake, UMG’s artist, managed to land a top 20 single with “Push Ups.” Secondly, the music video for his follow-up diss, “Family Matters,” trended number one on YouTube. It’s since racked up an impressive 17 million views. If anything, UMG would benefit from the battle continuing to unfold. Drake may have had another diss prepped to drop on May 7, but a shooting outside of his home led to a delay.

Read More: TV Anchor Calls Drake A “Raper” Instead Of “Rapper” On Accident

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TikTok Will Have Ariana Grande, The Weeknd And More Back On The Platform After Striking New Deal

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A major battle over the future of how music is used on social media and how labels are paid for it may have just come to a close. After months of speculation about what Universal Music Group would do if they couldn’t come to an agreement with social media platform TikTok. The conflict was over paying out royalties for song use and the deal collapsed. As a result, UMG removed their music catalog from the app earlier this year. Fans were left unable to add songs from some of their favorite artists to their videos and found some of their older clips entirely muted.

That was months ago and there hadn’t been many updates since. That was at least until earlier this week when the label and social media platform surprised fans. They made the announcement that a new deal had been reached that would return all of UMG’s songs to the platform. The change hasn’t been fully enacted yet with some users still finding older videos in their catalog muted. It’s expected that the music will return to the platform within one to two weeks. The companies declined to release any hard financial data about the agreement they came to.

Read More: Too Short Speaks On TikTok Music And Embracing The New Age Sound

UMG and TikTok Reach New Agreement

The future of the entire TikTok platform could be in Jeopardy after a recent piece of legislation passed in the United States. Last month, President Biden signed a new bill into law that’s attempting to ban the platform. They’re calling for it to be removed unless its sold to new ownership. Experts claim that fans of the social media app won’t have to worry about it disappearing any time soon. Regardless the long term stability of the platform was certainly rocked by the ruling. That made the short term win of returning music to the platform a much needed victory.

What do you think of Universal Music Group and TikTok finally reaching an agreement to bring all of the labels songs to the platform? Do you think the debacle will lead other labels to try similar tactics when negotiating with the social media app? Let us know in the comment section below.

Read More: JT Gets Creative In Overcoming TikTok & UMG Dispute

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TikTokers, Rejoice: UMG Artists’ Catalogs Are Returning To The Platform Under A New Licensing Agreement

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TikTok logo
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TikTok’s future in the United States still hangs in the balance, but there is some positive TikTok-related news. (Unfortunately, it is not that Soulja Boy bought TikTok — not yet, at least.)

On Thursday morning, May 2, Universal Music Group and TikTok shared a joint press release confirming “a new multi-dimensional licensing agreement that will deliver significant industry-leading benefits for UMG’s global family of artists, songwriters, and labels and will return their music to TikTok’s billion-plus global community.”

All UMG artists’ catalogs were removed from TikTok on February 1 and remained absent from the platform, save for Taylor Swift ahead of the release of her The Tortured Poets Department album last month.

The joint agreement marks a new era of strategic collaboration between the two organizations, built on a shared commitment to help UMG’s artists and songwriters achieve their creative and commercial potential,” the press release outlines. “By harnessing TikTok’s best-in-class technology, marketing and promotional capabilities, UMG and TikTok will deliver improved remuneration for UMG’s songwriters and artists, new promotional and engagement opportunities for their recordings and songs and industry-leading protections with respect to generative AI.”

The press release additionally emphasizes a commitment to “new monetization opportunities utilizing TikTok’s growing e-commerce capabilities,” “artist-centric tools,” and “to protect human artistry.”

JT Gets Creative In Overcoming TikTok & UMG Dispute

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It’s no secret that Universal Music Group’s decision to pull their music from TikTok has wreaked havoc on artists and their promotional tactics. Luckily for JT, however, she has a plan to get around it. Earlier this week, the City Girl turned solo star announced her upcoming single “Okay,” which is expected to appear on her upcoming mixtape, City Cinderella. While she’s with UMG, she doesn’t plan on letting the algorithm mute the track, getting in the way of her success.

JT took to Twitter/X yesterday to unveil her plan. Before urging social media users to pre-save her song, she told them to spread distorted versions of it across TikTok. “Remember I’m with UMG so once song is out Tik Tok will be muted,” she wrote. “So try to get a distorted sound going I have one on my Tik Tok use it if you want or make your own IDC just spread the sound.”

Read More: JT Recalls A Fan Trying To Rap Battle Her At An Afterparty: “Y’all Getting Bold.”

JT Urges Fans To “Get A Distorted Sound Going”

“Okay” is available for pre-save now, and hopefully, JT’s plan will prove to be effective. Listeners are already eager to hear the full version and think the femcee has yet another hit on her hands. It’s not the only exciting thing she has on the way, however. JT still has a few dates left on her first-ever headlining solo tour. She’s scheduled to stop in West Palm Beach, Baltimore, New York, and more in the coming weeks.

The Miami-born performer has faced some criticism for her choice of venues on the tour, namely from GloRilla during their Twitter feud earlier this month. Fortunately, it doesn’t look like she’s taken it to heart. She jokingly told a crowd this week that she hasn’t had a “wack cookout” yet. Are you looking forward to JT’s new single “Okay”? What about her plan to bypass TikTok’s dispute with UMG? Share your thoughts in the comments section down below, and keep an eye on HNHH for more updates.

Read More: JT Loved Lil Uzi Vert’s Viral Coachella Dance Moves

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