universal music group

Drake v. UMG/iHeartMedia Case Leaves Court Confused As Hearing Date Suffers Unforeseen Delays

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Drake‘s Texas hearing was rescheduled to January 13 after confusion occurred in court on Friday (Dec. 20). Outlets were informed the deposition would be held on Friday by Bexar County Clerks. Reporters were surprised by no announcement of the case number. Clerks revealed a mistake in scheduling announcements. Scheduled for December 18, it was rescheduled to December 20. The December 20 hearing was rescheduled again for December 19. Thursday’s hearing did not occur, with all parties agreeing on a motion to set the hearing delayed to January 13.

Drake’s attorney filed a letter to Judge Gloria Martinez and the District Clerk dropping Thursday’s hearing and requesting the reschedule. It reads: “Please allow this letter to confirm that Plaintiff will pass the hearings on his Rule 202 Petition that are currently docketed on Thursday, December 19, 2024 and Friday, December 20, 2024. Per the Third Amended Notice of Hearing, Plaintiffs Rule. The petition will be heard on January 13, 2025.”

Read more: Drake Teases New Music “From The North” In Moody Instagram Post

Drake, UMG/iHeartMedia Hearing Rescheduled To January 2025

News of the rescheduling follows Spotify’s response to Drake’s petition in federal court filed in November. The streaming giant denied all allegations, claiming they assisted in the possible artificial inflation of Kendrick Lamar’s massive hit, “Not Like Us.” In the response, Spotify told Billboard: “The predicate of Petitioner’s entire request for discovery from Spotify is false,” the company’s lawyers write. “Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement.”

Kendrick Lamar and Drake’s feud appeared subliminal for years. In April, Lamar disssed Drake and J. Cole directly on Future/Metro Boomin’s “Like That.” The” “Big 3” insult resulted in diss tracks “Push Ups” and “Family Matters” by Drake and “Euphoria” and “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar. Additionally, “Not Like Us” is a huge success, breaking multiple records. Drake told xQc he is unfazed by the rap battle that peddled “fairytales” claims.

Read more: Drake All Smiles After Receiving Custom Cake With His Face On It In
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According To 50 Cent, Drake’s Accusations Against UMG Are Actually An Admission

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It was likely only a matter of time until someone in the recording industry pointed out how Drake’s legal action against Universal Music Group over its promotion of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track “Not Like Us” could sound very much like a pot calling a kettle black. It’s only right that that person turned out to be 50 Cent, who has never been afraid to bait controversy and has his fair share of battle scars.

During an appearance on BigBoyTV, 50 Cent weighed in on Drake’s controversial move, pointing out how there’s some truth to Drake’s accusations — but those accusations are admissions as much as anything. “What he’s saying the system has done, they’ve done it,” he asserted. “They’re guilty of what he said they did.” He pointed out how during his tenure at Interscope (which is also a subsidiary of UMG, and which distributes Kendrick’s music), the company promoted both sides of his famed battle with former G-Unit member The Game (Look over 50’s shoulder during the interview… UMG isn’t the only one playing both sides). “It’s just business, it’s selling the record,” he said. “But everything he said that they did for Kendrick, they did for him.”

He did allow, though, that he didn’t see the battle as being as damaging to Drake as fans seem to. “Whenever you say you lost something — what exactly did you lose?” he questioned. “There’s nobody who’s a Drake fan who won’t go out to see his show right now.”

You can watch the full interview above.

Taylor Swift Producer Jack Antonoff Roasts Drake By Joking About Universal Lawsuit

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Taylor Swift producer Jack Antonoff got some jokes off at Drake‘s expense while giving his acceptance speech at Variety’s Hitmakers Brunch on Saturday (Dec. 7). Referring to Drake’s lawsuit with Universal Music Group, Antonoff told the audience he has plans to sue the music giant as well. “I’d like to announce that I’m suing Universal,” he said for laughs. The joke received mixed reactions. Resulting in Jack suggesting it was good laugh, saying, “That’s a pretty good joke you f*ckers.”

Drake and Jack Antonoff’s issues have never been addressed. Antonoff was instrumental in the beef between Kendrick Lamar and Drake. The producer contributed to Lamar’s “Euphoria” and the entire GNX album. Antonoff was honored with Producer of the Decade at the Hitmakers Brunch while GNX continued to run rampant on the Billboard charts.

Read more: Jack Antonoff Rips Kanye West On “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” With Continued Diaper Jokes

Jack Antonoff Jabs Drake With Universal Lawsuit Joke At Variety Hitmakers

Drizzy has never commented on Jack Antonoff. Drake has been the only one receiving jabs by Antonoff in 2024. The producer joked about Ye over the summer while on Jimmy Kimmel Live. Referencing Ye while discussing why he doesn’t like working with men in the music industry.

“I think men… There’s two people that I think are almost too over-sensitive to even function, and it’s men and members of the music industry,” explained Antonoff to Jimmy and the audience. “The amount of sensitivity… it’s sort of like watching Kanye. By the way — and Jimmy, you might like this because I know that you have your own relationship with the right and how you interact with them, and you’re much closer to how I see these things than other people. So I just do more of this, like… like if I saw Kanye, I would run up to him and be like, ‘The diaper… your diaper is so full, we have to change your diaper. Your diaper needs to be changed, there’s a huge problem.’”

Read more: Taylor Swift Fuels New Music Rumors By Linking Up With TDE Producer Sounwave

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Wack 100 Thinks It’s Possible Drake & UMG Are Really In Cahoots Amid Lawsuit

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Drake’s lawsuit against UMG has Wack 100 curious about a possible bigger scheme at work. In the latest episode of his The Adam 22 & Wack 100 Show, he proposed that the 6 God and UMG could be working together behind the scenes. “I think its a bigger picture, I’m just putting that out there,” Wack tells his co-host. “And I’ma call it right now. If we look up, and out of nowhere, a month or two, three from now, Drake drops the lawsuit. He just drops it and goes away. I then want somebody to go do the research on if UMG’s stock dropped after he filed this lawsuit. Takes a couple of months sometimes. And if there is some type of company or entity that came in a bought up a shitload of the stock. And now that he [Drake] dropped it, it starts to climb up.”

Wack elaborates on his claim with: “I think, and I see things different. You want me to look over there, but let me look in these other spaces. If that stock drops … And we see a shell company come in a buy a bunch of it. And then, out of nowhere, Drake drops the lawsuit. And that stock shoots up to 30, 40. I’ma think it was a play. This is all smoke and mirrors. The real play is over there. That’s where I think the play is at.”  

Read more: Wack 100 Clarifies The Game’s Role In Kendrick Lamar & Drake Beef

Wack 100 Theorizes Drake & UMG Are Working Together In Lawsuit 

Adam 22 supported Drake in the battle. He claims that Drizzy’s lawsuit could make him a hero if the outcome is in his favor. About the lawsuit, Adam said, “Anyone acting like Drake is just a bad loser hasn’t read this shit yet. If half of this gets proven, Drake will look like a hero for exposing the corrupt music industry.” His No Jumper co-hosts shared mixed reviews on the beef’s outcome. 

Wack 100 commented on various aspects of the iconic battle since it began in April. Before the theories, Wack, manager of The Game, Ray J, and Blueface, advised Drake to refrain from involving street culture after it was claimed the rap star allegedly set to visit Compton. Wack is closely connected to Birdman and Cash Money Records. Wack joined the No Jumper broadcast team in 2022. 

Read more: Wack 100 Blames Drake’s UMG Lawsuit On “Jealousy” Over “GNX” Success

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DJ Akademiks Claims Drake Angered UMG By Working With Other Labels & Competitors

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There are so many theories and interpretations when it comes to Drake’s legal move against Universal Music Group and Spotify that it completely moves past the Kendrick Lamar beef into something much greater. Moreover, DJ Akademiks has unsurprisingly covered this petition extensively, and he recently offered some more thoughts as to what could’ve provoked this. The general theory is that Drizzy actually wants out of his UMG contract and has unsuccessfully tried to negotiate a better deal for himself. The success of “Not Like Us” was the final straw, and what seemed to show him that the music industry will kick him out as quickly as they welcomed him in.

Basically, DJ Akademiks posited that UMG was also angry at Drake for working with their competitors, which then led to unfulfilled renegotiations. Some examples that the media personality brought up include an OVO deal with a Sony Music joint venture, the Toronto superstar’s previous affiliation with Warner, and his support of Gamma and new artists like Sexyy Red. He spread his influence throughout the whole industry, and UMG is allegedly and hypocritically peeved at this search of monopoly.

Read More: BlocBoy JB Calls Out Rappers Switching Sides On Drake

DJ Akademiks’ Theory About Drake’s Business Moves

Meanwhile, other commentators and hip-hop cultural figures chose to play the comparison game rather than look at Drake’s actions individually. For example, during a recent episode of the My Expert Opinion podcast, Math Hoffa claimed that UMG actually favored Kendrick Lamar’s deal over the 6ix God’s because they benefitted more from those splits. Many pushed back against this allegedly inaccurate narrative that Kendrick makes them more money than Aubrey, but it’s a valid assumption when none of us really know for sure.

Regardless of what will happen with this legal petition and the precedent it could set, it’s very clear that Drake will endure a very strained relationship with UMG moving forward. We wouldn’t express shock if their partnership completely fell out, or if UMG fought tooth and nail to keep him under their watchful eye and commercial control. After all, the OVO mogul is an absolute titan of the industry. But with so many doubts and assumptions, we’re hoping for some clarification.

Read More: Akademiks Reacts To “Her Loss” Cover Model Suki Baby’s Love For Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX”

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Math Hoffa Claims UMG Makes More Money By Supporting Kendrick Lamar Over Drake

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With Drake and his legal petition against Universal Music Group and Spotify over Kendrick Lamar and his “Not Like Us” diss track, fans and media figures are wondering how these label dynamics actually look like. For those unaware, both artists fall under UMG, whom Drizzy is accusing of colluding with Spotify to artificially inflate the streaming and radio numbers for the West Coast banger. As such, plenty of people gave their two cents as to why UMG allegedly supports K.Dot over the 6ix God, and Math Hoffa has a possible explanation. According to his remarks – and those of some of his My Expert Opinion podcast cohosts – they are still in two very different positions.

Specifically, Math Hoffa posited that UMG as a major label wants artists to stay under them and not go independent, which is why they found it harder to deal with Drake’s massive success since he reportedly owns his masters and continued to seek more money. In Kendrick Lamar’s case, Hoffa says that the label makes much more off of him since that ownership is a lesser percentage.

Read More: Akademiks Reacts To “Her Loss” Cover Model Suki Baby’s Love For Kendrick Lamar’s “GNX”

Math Hoffa Speaks On Kendrick Lamar & Drake’s Deals

However, you can see in the replies section of the Twitter post below that most people seem to disagree with this assessment. First of all, even with Drake reportedly owning his masters, he still probably made UMG and other major labels more money than Kendrick Lamar overall thanks to the frequency of drops and his massive reach as an artist. Secondly, Kendrick only has a licensing and distribution deal with Interscope (under UMG), so they might not have a comparable contract structure currently. With all the drama around the legal petition and what’s going on for these artists business-wise, these questions became more interesting than ever.

We’ll see what other analyses and interpretations emerge concerning this Kendrick Lamar and Drake case, one that could go pretty much anywhere. Maybe it will go all the way to court, maybe the discovery process doesn’t yield anything, and maybe both parties just settle out and call it a day. But no matter what happens, it will probably cause a big shake-up in the music industry.

Read More: Journalist Backs Up Drake’s Claim That Siri Played “Not Like Us” When Asked About “Certified Lover Boy”… Technically

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Funk Flex Declares ‘Drake is 100% Right’ as He Lists Prices for Radio Pay-for-Play

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Funk Flex on 6ix9ine's New Song: “I’m Not Going to Play This... BUT This is Thumping'

Funk Flex on 6ix9ine's New Song: “I’m Not Going to Play This... BUT This is Thumping'
Photo by MediaPunch/Shutterstock

What a way to stir up the conversation at the Thanksgiving table. Funk Flex hit X after Drake set the streets on fire with the legal actions he filed, revealing the cost of pay-for-play. His conclusion, “DRAKE IS 100% RIGHT. NATIONAL PLAY.”

And then he rolled out the prices.

Drake has launched a second legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG), this time accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it failed to halt the release of Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” which he alleges falsely accuses him of being a sex offender.

This new filing, submitted late Monday and made public on Tuesday, follows a previous legal action in New York, where Drake accused UMG of unlawfully promoting Lamar’s song on Spotify.

In the new filing, Drake’s legal team provides further details regarding his grievances with UMG, which is his record label for his entire career. According to the filing, UMG was aware that Lamar’s song contained accusations labeling Drake as a “certified pedophile” and “predator,” yet chose to release it anyway. “UMG could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” the document states. “But UMG chose to do the opposite, designing and financing a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit, using the harm caused to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and massive revenues.”

Like the filing in New York, the Texas petition is not a formal lawsuit but a pre-action filing intended to collect depositions from critical figures at UMG and iHeartRadio. The goal is to gather more evidence to support a defamation claim and potentially lead to additional allegations of civil fraud and racketeering.

Though Lamar is not named in the petition and is not accused of any legal wrongdoing, Drake’s legal team asserts that UMG knew the song, along with its album art and music video, would tarnish Drake’s reputation by falsely linking him to criminal sexual acts. The petition further accuses UMG of giving Lamar an unfair advantage in their competition, prioritizing one artist over another through illegal means.

UMG and iHeartRadio have not responded to requests for comment on the filing.

The post Funk Flex Declares ‘Drake is 100% Right’ as He Lists Prices for Radio Pay-for-Play appeared first on The Source Magazine.

Back to Back: Drake Launches Second Legal Action Against UMG

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Young Thug Delivers "Oh U Went" Video Featuring Drake

Young Thug Delivers "Oh U Went" Video Featuring Drake

Drake has launched a second legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG), this time accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it failed to halt the release of Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” which he alleges falsely accuses him of being a sex offender.

This new filing, submitted late Monday and made public on Tuesday, follows a previous legal action in New York, where Drake accused UMG of unlawfully promoting Lamar’s song on Spotify.

In the new filing, Drake’s legal team provides further details regarding his grievances with UMG, which is his record label for his entire career. According to the filing, UMG was aware that Lamar’s song contained accusations labeling Drake as a “certified pedophile” and “predator,” yet chose to release it anyway. “UMG could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” the document states. “But UMG chose to do the opposite, designing and financing a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit, using the harm caused to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and massive revenues.”

Like the filing in New York, the Texas petition is not a formal lawsuit but a pre-action filing intended to collect depositions from critical figures at UMG and iHeartRadio. The goal is to gather more evidence to support a defamation claim and potentially lead to additional allegations of civil fraud and racketeering.

Though Lamar is not named in the petition and is not accused of any legal wrongdoing, Drake’s legal team asserts that UMG knew the song, along with its album art and music video, would tarnish Drake’s reputation by falsely linking him to criminal sexual acts. The petition further accuses UMG of giving Lamar an unfair advantage in their competition, prioritizing one artist over another through illegal means.

UMG and iHeartRadio have not responded to requests for comment on the filing.

The post Back to Back: Drake Launches Second Legal Action Against UMG appeared first on The Source Magazine.

Drake Has Doubled Down On His Legal Dispute With UMG, Accusing The Label Of Defamation In A New Filing

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drake
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Drake has doubled down on his current legal dispute with Universal Music Group, accusing the label of defamation in a new filing. According to Billboard, after filing a pre-action petition accusing UMG of promoting Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” through underhanded means, Drake is now accusing his and Kendrick’s shared parent label (Drake licenses his music through Republic, while Kendrick licenses through Interscope, both subsidiaries of UMG) of defamation for not blocking the song’s release, because of the line(s) in which Kendrick accuses Drake of being a pedophile.

In the new filing, Drake’s attorneys (by way of Frozen Moments, LLC) claim UMG “could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed. But UMG chose to do the opposite. UMG designed, financed and then executed a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues. That plan succeeded, likely beyond UMG’s wildest expectations.”

While Drake has yet to file an actual lawsuit against Universal, these “pre-action” petitions ask the court to order UMG to turn over any records pertaining to the diss and its promotion ahead of any potential lawsuit. A judge will still need to review the paperwork to determine whether or not to grant this petition, although Drake’s legal team claims to have enough evidence to proceed with a lawsuit anyway. UMG has already denied the claims in a response of its own, saying through a representative, “The suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. 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.”

Drake Puts Universal Music On Blast In Resurfaced Tweet From 2011

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Drake has seemingly run out of rappers to battle with, so now he’s taking on record labels. The 6 God decided to file a petition against Universal Music Group on Monday, November 25. The petition claimed that UMG partnered with Spotify to boost the sales and visibility of Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” all the while failing to put the same effort and promotion behind Drake’s music. It was definitely surprising, but those who have been following Drake’s career know this label tension is nothing new.

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