The streaming services did disclose that €500 (approximately $522) was allocated for a “Not Like Us” marquee for users in France.
A couple of weeks after Drake alleged that Spotify provided Universal Music Group “significantly lower rates” than normal to artificially elevate “Not Like Us,” the streaming service has now replied. On Friday (Dec. 20), the music service rejected the Canadian artist’s “unrealistic” and “theoretical” claims.
“According to a statement from the streaming giant, as reported by Variety, ‘Spotify has no financial motivation for users to play ‘Not Like Us’ instead of any of Drake’s songs.'” “Only one tool from Spotify for Artists, Marquee, was acquired for the song, costing €500 to promote the track in France.” Marquee is a visual advertisement presented to users as a Sponsored Suggestion.
A company representative added, “UMG and Spotify have never had any agreement where UMG ‘charged Spotify licensing rates 30 percent less than its typical licensing rates for ‘Not Like Us’ in return for Spotify actively promoting [‘Not Like Us’],’ even ‘to users looking for other songs and artists.’”
In Drake’s initial petition, he alleged that Siri — Apple’s voice-activated digital assistant — was designed to “intentionally mislead users” to “Not Like Us” at the behest of UMG. The lawsuit claimed that when fans looked up Certified Lover Boy, the rapper’s sixth studio album, they were instead suggested the previously mentioned song by Lamar, which featured lyrics such as, “Certified Lover Boy? “Certified child molesters.”
UMG was significantly faster in responding to Drake, whose OVO Sound label functions under a partnership with Republic Records. The music company emphasized that it would never “take any actions that could harm any of its artists.” A spokesperson stated, “No level of fabricated and ridiculous legal reasoning in this pre-action submission can conceal the reality that fans decide the music they wish to listen to.”
50 Cent, on the other hand, isn’t accepting those assertions. During the broadcast of the “Flagrant” podcast on Monday (Dec. 16), the New York native stated, “All that he claimed [UMG] did in that lawsuit, they indeed did.”
