Spotify Denies Using Bots for Kendrick Lamar's "Not Like Us," Calls Drake's Allegations "False"

Spotify has legally responded to Drake‘s legal petition from last month, denying the former’s claims that it used bots and payola to boost the numbers of Kendrick Lamar‘s “Not Like Us.”

The motion was filed in Manhattan court, “The predicate of Petitioner’s entire request for discovery from Spotify is false.” The streaming company’s lawyers added, “Spotify and UMG have never had any such arrangement.” Spotify also called The Boy’s allegations “far-fetched” and “speculative,” further slamming him for filing a legal petition rather than a full lawsuit against Spotify and Universal Music Group (UMG). Calling the move “extraordinary,” Spotify asserted that he attempted to gain information as his allegations do not hold water and would have been easily dismissed in court.

“What petitioner is seeking to do here … is to bypass the normal pleading requirements … and obtain by way of pre-action discovery that which it would only be entitled to seek were it to survive a motion to dismiss,” the motion stated. “This subversion of the normal judicial process should be rejected.”

While UMG is yet to legally respond to Drake’s legal filing, it previously released a statement saying “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.” Spotify doubled down on this statement and argued that civil Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) cases are tough to prove even with enough evidence — which causes a problem for Drake, as he supposedly barely has any. “The Petition asserts no specific facts of any kind in support of these alleged RICO and deceptive practices violations,” Spotify wrote. “Instead, it relies exclusively on speculation … or the claims of anonymous individuals on the internet.”

Spotify’s VP of Music David Kaefer delivered an affidavit alongside the filing, swearing that the streamer “invests heavily” in practices that “mitigate the impact of artificial streaming on our platform.” He wrote,“When we identify attempted stream manipulation, we take action that may include removing streaming numbers, withholding royalties and charging penalty fees.” He continued, “Confirmed and suspected artificial streams are also removed from our chart calculations. This helps us to protect royalty payouts for honest, hardworking artists.”

Drizzy’s attorneys responded to Spotify’s legal motion, “It is not surprising that Spotify is trying to distance themselves from UMG’s allegedly manipulative practices to artificially inflate streaming numbers on behalf of one of its other artists. If Spotify and UMG have nothing to hide then they should be perfectly fine complying with this basic discovery request.”