Drake Alleges UMG and Spotify Employed Bots and Payola to Inflate Popularity of ‘Not Like Us’

In 2024, UMG did not rely on chance, or even ordinary business practices, to “break through the noise” on Spotify, and likely other music platforms. It instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, “Not Like Us,” in order to make that song go viral, including by using “bots” and pay-to-play agreements.