{"id":2133227,"date":"2025-11-03T21:33:31","date_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:33:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2133227"},"modified":"2025-11-03T21:33:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-03T21:33:31","slug":"rapper-sues-spotify-claiming-drakes-streams-are-inflated-by-bots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/rapper-sues-spotify-claiming-drakes-streams-are-inflated-by-bots\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapper sues Spotify, claiming Drake\u2019s streams are inflated by bots"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div data-article-body=\"true\">\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/spotify-introducing-better-sound-quality-213041483.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Spotify;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Spotify<\/a> is being accused of allowing bots to fraudulently stream songs by superstar <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uk.style.yahoo.com\/drake-calls-wwe-star-rhea-155454891.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:Drake;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">Drake<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/rap\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Rapper RBX;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Rapper RBX<\/a> filed a federal class action lawsuit against the streaming platform Sunday, alleging they\u2019ve ignored \u201cbillions of fradulent streams\u201d created by fake users and bots on Drake\u2019s songs from January 2022 through September 2025.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Spotify pays artists out of a pool based on their share of total monthly streams, so artificially boosting streams would unfairly increase one artist\u2019s payout at the expense of others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, claims <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/spotify\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Spotify;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Spotify<\/a> failed to prevent the bots from boosting streams for the Canadian rapper. <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/drake\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Drake;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Drake<\/a> is one of the most popular artists on the music streaming platform, with over 80 million monthly listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Drake, full name Aubrey Drake Graham, is not accused of wrongdoing in the suit, and Spotify is named as the only plaintiff.<\/p>\n<div class=\"relative\"><img alt=\"Drake is not accused of any wrongdoing in RBX\u2019s lawsuit against Spotify (Invision)\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"960\" height=\"650\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"1\" class=\"rounded-lg\" style=\"color:transparent\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/ny\/api\/res\/1.2\/g44YraaqBflqKSVlw7Atxg--\/YXBwaWQ9aGlnaGxhbmRlcjt3PTk2MDtoPTY1MDtjZj13ZWJw\/https:\/\/media.zenfs.com\/en\/the_independent_577\/86a6cfdb5b8b1dcd71e2a92f7d07ddb3\"\/><span class=\"absolute bottom-0 right-0 rounded-full bg-white p-3 opacity-100 shadow-elevation-3 transition-opacity duration-300 group-hover:block group-hover:opacity-100 md:p-[17px] lg:bottom-6 lg:right-6 lg:bg-white\/90 lg:p-5 lg:opacity-0 lg:shadow-none\"><\/span><\/div>\n<p>Drake is not accused of any wrongdoing in RBX\u2019s lawsuit against Spotify (Invision)<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cEvery month, under Spotify\u2019s watchful eye, billions of fraudulent streams are generated from fake, illegitimate, and\/or illegal methods,\u201d the suit, obtained by <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/business\/media\/rbx-sues-spotify-alleged-streaming-fraud-rcna240844\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:NBC News;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">NBC News<\/a>, alleges. It continues to say the alleged fraud \u201ccauses massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers, and other rightsholders.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">RBX, real name Eric Dwayne Collins, and his lawyers say Spotify allegedly turns a blind eye to the inflated numbers so the streaming giant can make more ad money.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cThe more users (including fake users) Spotify has, the more advertisements it can sell, the more profits the company can report, all of which serves to increase the purported value delivered to shareholders,\u201d the suit says.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The lawsuit goes on to claim that individual Spotify accounts listen to Drake\u2019s music for \u201c23 hours a day\u201d and that some streams came from places with \u201czero residential addresses.\u201d However, the filing reportedly did not include any specific places or numbers, and there was no explanation for how the data was collected.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">While the suit suggests that bots are widely used on Spotify, Drake is the only example listed as benefiting from the alleged fake listeners.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cWe cannot comment on pending litigation,\u201d a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cHowever, Spotify in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming. We heavily invest in always-improving, best-in-class systems to combat it and safeguard artist payouts with strong protections like removing fake streams, withholding royalties, and charging penalties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">\u201cOur systems are working: In a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/musically.com\/2024\/09\/12\/spotify-accounted-for-just-60k-of-10m-streaming-fraud-case\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:case from last year;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">case from last year<\/a>, one bad actor was indicted for stealing $10,000,000 from streaming services, only $60,000 of which came from Spotify, proving how effective we are at limiting the impact of artificial streaming on our platform.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">RBX alleges the fake streams have taken \u201chundreds of millions of dollars\u201d from him and other artists, but the lawsuit does not say how much the plaintiffs are seeking in damages.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The rapper, 57, has over a million monthly listeners on Spotify, with his most popular songs being collaborations with his cousin, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/topic\/snoop-dogg\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" data-ylk=\"slk:Snoop Dogg;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas\" class=\"link \">Snoop Dogg<\/a>, and Dr. Dre. RBX rose to fame decades ago and performed for rap label Death Row Records.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The lawsuit comes weeks after a <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/uk.news.yahoo.com\/drake-lawsuit-against-universal-music-205233378.html\" data-ylk=\"slk:judge tossed Drake\u2019s lawsuit;elm:context_link;itc:0;sec:content-canvas;outcm:mb_qualified_link;_E:mb_qualified_link;ct:story;\" class=\"link  yahoo-link\">judge tossed Drake\u2019s lawsuit<\/a> against Universal Music Group over its release of Kendrick Lamar\u2019s diss track \u201cNot Like Us.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source ca.news.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Spotify is being accused of allowing bots to fraudulently stream songs by superstar Drake. Rapper RBX filed a federal class action lawsuit against the streaming platform Sunday, alleging they\u2019ve ignored \u201cbillions of fradulent streams\u201d created by fake users and bots on Drake\u2019s songs from January 2022 through September 2025. Spotify pays artists out of a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2133228,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25173],"tags":[364223,25844,22821],"class_list":["post-2133227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artists","tag-class-action-lawsuit","tag-drake","tag-spotify"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/Rapper-sues-Spotify-claiming-Drakes-streams-are-inflated-by-bots.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2133227"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2133229,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2133227\/revisions\/2133229"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2133228"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2133227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2133227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2133227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}