Universal Music Group CEO Sir Lucian Grainge has formally opposed Drake’s attempts to obtain documents from him in the rapper’s ongoing defamation lawsuit. In a sworn declaration filed on August…
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Hip hop icons Salt-N-Pepa are reflecting on four decades of trailblazing success as they prepare for their Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. In an interview on ABC’s Good…
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Drake’s legal team was in Manhattan federal court on Monday afternoon (June 30), pushing for the defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) to proceed. The hearing saw arguments presented…
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Iggy Azalea is the latest rapper to accuse Universal Music Group of wrongdoing. On social media, She claims she is owed money in the “8-figure range.” “Crazy how in my…
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What a way to stir up the conversation at the Thanksgiving table. Funk Flex hit X after Drake set the streets on fire with the legal actions he filed, revealing the cost of pay-for-play. His conclusion, “DRAKE IS 100% RIGHT. NATIONAL PLAY.”
And then he rolled out the prices.
Drake has launched a second legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG), this time accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it failed to halt the release of Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” which he alleges falsely accuses him of being a sex offender.
This new filing, submitted late Monday and made public on Tuesday, follows a previous legal action in New York, where Drake accused UMG of unlawfully promoting Lamar’s song on Spotify.
In the new filing, Drake’s legal team provides further details regarding his grievances with UMG, which is his record label for his entire career. According to the filing, UMG was aware that Lamar’s song contained accusations labeling Drake as a “certified pedophile” and “predator,” yet chose to release it anyway. “UMG could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” the document states. “But UMG chose to do the opposite, designing and financing a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit, using the harm caused to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and massive revenues.”
Like the filing in New York, the Texas petition is not a formal lawsuit but a pre-action filing intended to collect depositions from critical figures at UMG and iHeartRadio. The goal is to gather more evidence to support a defamation claim and potentially lead to additional allegations of civil fraud and racketeering.
Though Lamar is not named in the petition and is not accused of any legal wrongdoing, Drake’s legal team asserts that UMG knew the song, along with its album art and music video, would tarnish Drake’s reputation by falsely linking him to criminal sexual acts. The petition further accuses UMG of giving Lamar an unfair advantage in their competition, prioritizing one artist over another through illegal means.
UMG and iHeartRadio have not responded to requests for comment on the filing.
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Drake has launched a second legal action against Universal Music Group (UMG), this time accusing the music giant of defamation and claiming it failed to halt the release of Kendrick Lamar’s track “Not Like Us,” which he alleges falsely accuses him of being a sex offender.
This new filing, submitted late Monday and made public on Tuesday, follows a previous legal action in New York, where Drake accused UMG of unlawfully promoting Lamar’s song on Spotify.
In the new filing, Drake’s legal team provides further details regarding his grievances with UMG, which is his record label for his entire career. According to the filing, UMG was aware that Lamar’s song contained accusations labeling Drake as a “certified pedophile” and “predator,” yet chose to release it anyway. “UMG could have refused to release or distribute the song or required the offending material to be edited and/or removed,” the document states. “But UMG chose to do the opposite, designing and financing a plan to turn ‘Not Like Us’ into a viral mega-hit, using the harm caused to Drake and his businesses to drive consumer hysteria and massive revenues.”
Like the filing in New York, the Texas petition is not a formal lawsuit but a pre-action filing intended to collect depositions from critical figures at UMG and iHeartRadio. The goal is to gather more evidence to support a defamation claim and potentially lead to additional allegations of civil fraud and racketeering.
Though Lamar is not named in the petition and is not accused of any legal wrongdoing, Drake’s legal team asserts that UMG knew the song, along with its album art and music video, would tarnish Drake’s reputation by falsely linking him to criminal sexual acts. The petition further accuses UMG of giving Lamar an unfair advantage in their competition, prioritizing one artist over another through illegal means.
UMG and iHeartRadio have not responded to requests for comment on the filing.
The post Back to Back: Drake Launches Second Legal Action Against UMG appeared first on The Source Magazine.
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According to an exclusive report from Rolling Stone, Native Tongue family favorites Black Sheep have filed a large class action lawsuit against Universal Music Group over unpaid royalties related to a side deal that the global music giant allegedly made with Spotify.
Black Sheep, which is Dres and Mista Lawnge, says that UMG owes them and their entire artist roster over $750 million for breach of contract after allegedly accepting cash and company stock from Spotify in exchange for music from their artists. Black Sheep claim that UMG only counted the cash given when distributing royalty payments.
Black Sheep also allege in the lawsuit that the “previously undisclosed” deal violated their deal with Polygram, a subsidiary of Universal, going all the way back to when they signed their original record deal. The lawsuit says that Universal owes 50 percent of all net receipts related to the duo’s music.
“In the mid-2000s, Universal struck an undisclosed, sweetheart deal with Spotify whereby Universal agreed to accept substantially lower royalty payments on artists’ behalf in exchange for equity stake in Spotify – then a fledgling streaming service,” the lawsuit states.
“Yet rather than distribute to artists their 50 percent of Spotify stock or pay artists their true and accurate royalty payments, for years Universal shortchanged artists and deprived plaintiffs and class members of the full royalty payments they were owed under Universal’s contract.”
The lawsuit continues, “For approximately a decade, Universal omitted from the royalty statements Universal issued to plaintiffs that it had received Spotify stock in connection with the ‘use or exploitation’ of Black Sheep recordings.”
A Universal spokesperson called the allegations “fake and absurd” in a statement to Rolling Stone.
“Universal Music Group’s innovative leadership has led to the renewed growth of the music ecosystem to the benefit of recording artists, songwriters and creators around the world,” the statement read. “UMG has a well-established track record of fighting for artist compensation and the claim that it would take equity at the expense of artist compensation is patently false and absurd. Given that this is pending litigation, we cannot comment on all aspects of the complaint.”
Spotify did not respond for comment.
Universal owns a $1.7 billion stake in Spotify according to a 2021 Universal report and Black Sheep’s suit claims that a “substantial portion” originates from the shares Universal and its subsidiaries acquired in or around 2008.
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Ariana Grande is not on Kanye West’s album Donda.
Shortly after Kanye West released “Donda” fans started to speculate that Grande provided backup vocals on the title track and “Believe What I Say.”
Grande took to her Instagram stories to celebrate the artist who is actually on the song. Grande shared one of Stalone’s posts about working on Donda.
She told her that she sounds beautiful on the album.
“Vocals under MB Stadium in #atl before the start of #DONDA 2…The entire album is a masterpiece. I’m so grateful,” Stalone shared on her own Instagram post.
She also tweeted the song’s credits and told fans how flattered she was that her vocals were compared to Grande’s.
I love Ari and so grateful that my vocals would even be compared to hers.
pic.twitter.com/2TaxubDS40
— STALONE (@thestalone) August 29, 2021
This news arrives after Kanye West claims that Universal Music Group released the album without his consent. Ye Shared in an Instagram post Sunday.
“UNIVERSAL PUT MY ALBUM OUT WITHOUT MY APPROVAL AND THEY BLOCKED JAIL 2 FROM BEING ON THE ALBUM.”
According to Variety, representatives for Universal had no comment on the allegation, but sources at the company called it “preposterous.” Def Jam sent a press release announcing the arrival of Donda at around 8:15 a.m. Sunday morning.
So many unanswered questions. Is Kanye cap for calling out his label?
Share your thoughts below.
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It was recently reported that Lil Wayne sold his masters to Universal Music Group for $100 million back in June of this year. After documents of the deal were revealed, the sale reportedly included the master of Young Money artists as well. The three prominent artists on that list are Drake, Nicki Mina, and Tyga. Given all of the work and culture shifts that the four artists have created, $100 million seems pretty cheap for ownership of their sound recorded copyrights.
This news led fans to speculate which albums were sold within the deal. According to the documents, the masters include every Drake album aside from his 2020 releases. Every 2020 release from the OVO CEO is under his OVO imprint in conjunction with Republic Records. Republic is also a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Every project from 2009’s So Far Gone to 2018’s Scorpion is reportedly included in Wayne’s Universal deal. On the other hand, all of Nicki Minaj’s albums have fallen under the Young Money/Cash Money imprint since her debut release, Pink Friday.
Rumor that Lil Wayne sold Young Money masters to UMG for $100M ? That’s not just his own masters that’s Nicki and Drake’s as well. pic.twitter.com/A7FuPb3Key
— legal tender
(@BreeSunshinee_) December 17, 2020
Well, fans were not happy once the news broke of Weezy’s deal with UMG. One fan even mentioned Wayne’s multi-year battle with Birdman in the past. It looks like that effort was to no avail because he put it up for sale years later. Earlier this month, Wayne pled guilty to gun charges for an arrest back in 2019.
Peep fan reaction after news broke of Wayne’s alleged sale of his proteges’ music.
Rappers Are Trynna Own There Masters And This Dummy Selling His Yeah Them Drugs Done Deep Fried Lil Wayne Mind
pic.twitter.com/8o1H2eUeOq
— Sandino Slim (@Sandinoslim1804) December 11, 2020
Lil Wayne is now a certified coon. As if co-signing Donald Duck wasn’t enough, he has now sold the masters of Nicki Minaj to the White
in a not so shocking turn of events. pic.twitter.com/Zi0jV1Oh1A
— FTLC (@4000LevelCourse) December 18, 2020
The post Lil Wayne Reportedly Sells Drake and Nicki Minaj’s Masters in $100 Million Deal With UMG appeared first on The Source.
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It was recently reported that Lil Wayne sold his masters to Universal Music Group for $100 million back in June of this year. After documents of the deal were revealed, the sale reportedly included the master of Young Money artists as well. The three prominent artists on that list are Drake, Nicki Mina, and Tyga. Given all of the work and culture shifts that the four artists have created, $100 million seems pretty cheap for ownership of their sound recorded copyrights.
This news led fans to speculate which albums were sold within the deal. According to the documents, the masters include every Drake album aside from his 2020 releases. Every 2020 release from the OVO CEO is under his OVO imprint in conjunction with Republic Records. Republic is also a subsidiary of Universal Music Group. Every project from 2009’s So Far Gone to 2018’s Scorpion is reportedly included in Wayne’s Universal deal. On the other hand, all of Nicki Minaj’s albums have fallen under the Young Money/Cash Money imprint since her debut release, Pink Friday.
Rumor that Lil Wayne sold Young Money masters to UMG for $100M ? That’s not just his own masters that’s Nicki and Drake’s as well. pic.twitter.com/A7FuPb3Key
— legal tender
(@BreeSunshinee_) December 17, 2020
Well, fans were not happy once the news broke of Weezy’s deal with UMG. One fan even mentioned Wayne’s multi-year battle with Birdman in the past. It looks like that effort was to no avail because he put it up for sale years later. Earlier this month, Wayne pled guilty to gun charges for an arrest back in 2019.
Peep fan reaction after news broke of Wayne’s alleged sale of his proteges’ music.
Rappers Are Trynna Own There Masters And This Dummy Selling His Yeah Them Drugs Done Deep Fried Lil Wayne Mind
pic.twitter.com/8o1H2eUeOq
— Sandino Slim (@Sandinoslim1804) December 11, 2020
Lil Wayne is now a certified coon. As if co-signing Donald Duck wasn’t enough, he has now sold the masters of Nicki Minaj to the White
in a not so shocking turn of events. pic.twitter.com/Zi0jV1Oh1A
— FTLC (@4000LevelCourse) December 18, 2020
The post Lil Wayne Reportedly Sells Drake and Nicki Minaj’s Masters in $100 Million Deal With UMG appeared first on The Source.
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