{"id":103604,"date":"2025-03-04T11:57:58","date_gmt":"2025-03-04T11:57:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/?p=103604"},"modified":"2025-03-04T11:58:03","modified_gmt":"2025-03-04T11:58:03","slug":"drake-iheartmedia-lawsuit-settled","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/routenote.com\/blog\/drake-iheartmedia-lawsuit-settled\/","title":{"rendered":"Drake and iHeartMedia settle lawsuit over ‘Not Like Us’ payola dispute"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Drake has settled a legal dispute with iHeartMedia over the incedibly popular diss track, but the rapper’s litigation saga is still ongoing.<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A legal dispute that was filed back in November<\/a> by Drake against iHeartMedia has now been settled. The petition alleged that iHeartRadio had received payment from Universal Music Group to boost the plays of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’, which is aimed very directly at Drake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last week, a court document revealed that, according to Drake’s legal team, the Toronto rapper and iHeartMedia had reached an “amicable resolution”. At the moment, no further details around the wrapping up of the dispute have been disclosed.\u00a0“We are pleased that the parties were able to reach a settlement satisfactory to both sides, and have no further comment on this matter,” Drake\u2019s legal team said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This certainly isn’t the end of Drake’s legal dealings – all relating to ‘Not Like Us’. In January, Drake filed another lawsuit in federal New York City court, doubling down<\/a> on his litigation against UMG for defamation. Drake\u2019s lawsuit alleges that UMG exploited Lamar\u2019s track, which refers to Drake as a \u201ccertified pedophile,\u201d despite being aware that the claims were false and inflammatory. You can read the filing here<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This filing came very quickly after Drake dropped his legal petition<\/a> against UMG and Spotify, which was centred around alleged unfair streaming tactics. Drake had accused both entities of using bots, offering discounted licensing rates, and entering into pay-to-play agreements to promote ‘Not Like Us’. UMG\u00a0responded<\/a>\u00a0to these allegations by stating, \u201cThe suggestion that UMG would do anything to undermine any of its artists is offensive and untrue. We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.\u201d Spotify also denied any wrongdoing, asserting that it had \u201cno economic incentive for users to stream \u2018Not Like Us<\/em>\u2018 over any of Drake\u2019s tracks.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is also a separate petition filed by Drake against UMG in Texas district court. This one was filed back in November<\/a>, and alleges that \u201cUMG designed, financed and then executed a plan\u201d to turn\u00a0Not Like Us \u201c<\/em>into a viral mega-hit with the intent of using the spectacle of harm to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and, of course, massive revenues\u201d. This petition is a request for \u201cpre-trial discovery\u201d, rather than a full-blown lawsuit. Still, it’s a lot to keep track of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All of this because of Kendrick Lamar’s record-smashing, battle-ending diss track, ‘Not Like Us’, which was performed during the Superbowl halftime show despite threats from Drake’s legal team not to. Drake’s team claimed that if the song were to be performed, that litigation against UMG would intensify. Since then, Lamar’s performance (which of course included ‘Not Like Us’) has become the most-watched Superbowl halftime show in history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Drake has settled a legal dispute with iHeartMedia over the incedibly popular diss track, but the rapper’s litigation saga is still ongoing. A legal dispute that was filed back in November by Drake against iHeartMedia has now been settled. The petition alleged that iHeartRadio had received payment from Universal Music Group to boost the plays of Kendrick Lamar’s diss track ‘Not Like Us’, which is aimed very directly at Drake. Last week, a court document revealed that, according to Drake’s legal team, the Toronto rapper and iHeartMedia had reached an “amicable resolution”. At the moment, no further details around the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":103605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[6219],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nDrake and iHeartMedia settle lawsuit over 'Not Like Us' payola dispute - RouteNote Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A lawsuit filed by Drake against iHeartMedia has settled. 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