Spotify is facing a class action lawsuit accusing the company of ignoring widespread streaming fraud that allegedly benefited artists like Drake, who reportedly gained billions of fake streams. Filed in California federal court by rapper RBX (Eric Dwayne Collins), the suit claims Spotify “turns a blind eye” to fraudulent streaming activity, which inflates some artists’ numbers while cutting into royalties owed to others. Drake isn’t being sued but is named as a major beneficiary. RBX alleges that between January 2022 and September 2025, a large share of Drake’s 37 billion Spotify streams were fake, generated by bot networks. Because Spotify pays artists based on their share of total streams, the suit argues that this fraud unfairly boosted Drake’s payouts and diluted those of legitimate artists. Spotify is the sole defendant and is accused of failing to control fake streams, calling its fraud prevention “window dressing.” The suit also suggests Spotify benefits from inflated user numbers and ad revenue, which helps raise its stock value. A Spotify spokesperson denied the claims, saying the company “in no way benefits” from artificial streaming and invests heavily in removing fake plays, withholding royalties, and penalizing offenders. They cited a prior case where only $60,000 of $10 million in stolen royalties came from Spotify, calling this proof their systems work. RBX’s complaint points to “abnormal VPN usage” in Drake’s data, such as 250,000 plays of his song “No Face” allegedly coming from Turkey but rerouted to appear from the U.K. It also claims less than 2% of Drake’s listeners account for 15% of his total streams. The lawsuit estimates legitimate rights holders lost hundreds of millions due to inflated numbers but provides no data or evidence to support the allegations. Drake’s team has not responded. Ironically, Drake previously accused Universal Music Group of similar fraud to boost Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us,” a case dismissed earlier this year that he is now appealing.
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