Universal Music Group Responds to Drake’s Lawsuit
Universal Music Group has responded to the defamation lawsuit filed by Drake earlier today (January 15).
The lawsuit accuses UMG of promoting a “false and malicious narrative” about him through the content of lyrics, single artwork, and the music video for Kendrick Lamar’s diss track. Not like us.
The lawsuit was filed just hours after Drake, through his company Frozen Moments LLC, withdrew a previous lawsuit against Universal Music Group and Spotify accusing them of a scheme to “artificially inflate” Kendrick Lamar’s diss track. Not like us.
UMG’s Defense and Statements
In response to the defamation lawsuit, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group told us today that “not only are these allegations untrue, but the idea that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist, let alone Drake, is illogical.”
A UMG spokesman added that the company “will vigorously defend this lawsuit to protect our people and our reputation.”
You can read UMG’s statement in full below:
“Not only are these allegations untrue, but the idea that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist, let alone Drake, is illogical. We have invested heavily in his music, and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly over the years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success,” a UMG spokesperson said.
“We have not and are not engaged in slander – in relation to any person”
UMG representative
They added: “Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry, and has also participated in traditional outrageous ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings towards other artists.
“He now seeks to weaponize the lawsuit to silence the artist’s creative expression and seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.
“We have not and are not engaged in slander against any person. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this lawsuit to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who may, directly or indirectly, become a frivolous target of litigation for doing nothing more than writing a song.”
Allegations and Consequences
Drake alleges in the lawsuit that the release and promotion of the record resulted in a “physical threat to Drake’s safety” as well as a “bombardment of online harassment” and as such, “fear for the safety of himself, his family and others his friends.”
Elsewhere in the complaint, Drake states that “the lawsuit does not involve the artist who created Not like us. Instead, this is solely about UMG, a music company that chose to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it believed were not only false, but also dangerous.”
The full text of the statement can be read here.
A statement released by Drake’s legal team at Wilkie Farr & Gallagher LLP reads: “Drake has filed a lawsuit against his label, Universal Music Group, to hold UMG accountable for knowingly promoting false and defamatory allegations against him.
“Beginning on May 4, 2024, and every day since then, UMG used its vast resources as the most powerful music company in the world to spread a dangerous and inflammatory message that was designed to kill Drake’s character and resulted in actual violence on Drake’s doorstep.
“UMG wants the public to believe this is a fight between rappers, but this lawsuit has not been filed against Kendrick Lamar. This lawsuit exposes the human and business consequences of UMG’s prioritization of profits over the safety and well-being of its artists, and sheds light on the manipulation of artists and the public for corporate gain.”
The original petition, filed in November 2024 but withdrawn this week and which you can read in full here, alleged that UMG “has launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate streaming services and radio stations with songs. Not like us to make the song go viral, including through the use of ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements.”
The petition also alleged that “UMG is charging Spotify licensing fees 30 percent lower than its regular licensing rates.” Not like us in exchange for Spotify positively recommending the song to users searching for other unrelated songs and artists.”
He continued to claim, “UMG and Spotify did not disclose that Spotify received any compensation in exchange for recommending the song.”
Last month, in response to Drake’s allegations of a 30% rate cut in exchange for recommendations, a Spotify spokesperson told MBW: “Spotify has no economic incentive for users to stream Not like us over any of Drake’s tracks.”
Both Drake and Lamar release their records through UMG and Republic Records and Interscope, respectively.
Not Like Us (Interscope), recorded by Lamar was released as part of a bitter rap feud with Drake on May 4th, as part of a series of three diss tracks released within days of each other (the others being Euphoria and Meet The Grahams).
The track peaked at number one on the Hot 100, becoming Lamar’s fourth US number one and second in the same year after Like this To Future, Metro Bumin, and Kendrick Lamar, who reached No. 1 in April. Track also marked the first US #1 Not like us producer Mustard.
