Spotify has issued an official response to the class action lawsuit accusing it of turning a "blind eye” to “mass-scale fraudulent streaming.” In a statement obtained by Complex, the company denied benefiting from artificial streaming.
“We cannot comment on pending litigation. However, 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," the company.
The statement continued: "Our systems are working: In a case from last year, 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.”
Who Is Suing Spotify?
The lawsuit names rapper RBX as a plaintiff in the case. He appears both individually and "on behalf of other members of the general public similarly situated."
It also references Drake, accusing him of allegedly profiting from “billions” of fake streams as a result of Spotify's inaction. It claims Spotify already “knows or should know” about a substantial amount of evidence that can prove the Toronto rapper's music has benefited from bots. Despite the claim, the lawsuit doesn't list Drake as a defendant in the case. It also doesn't name any other artists allegedly profiting from fake streams. Drake has yet to address the lawsuit.
“Every month, under Spotify’s watchful eye, billions of fraudulent streams are generated from fake, illegitimate, and/or illegal methods," the lawsuit alleges, arguing that the situation “causes massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers, and other rightsholders.”
With the case, the plaintiffs are seeking a jury trial to determine compensatory and punitive damages. They allege rights holders have been defrauded out of “hundreds of millions of dollars" as a result of the alleged actions of Spotify.
In other news, Drake is currently working on his next studio album, Iceman. He has hinted at it releasing at some point in 2025. He has also already released several singles from the tracklist.
