AceShowbiz - A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Spotify of ignoring fraudulent streaming activity linked to high-profile artists, including a significant focus on the rapper Drake, AllHipHop reports. The legal action targeted the music platform for allegedly allowing bots to artificially inflate stream counts, particularly affecting Drake’s catalog.

Musicconnection also detailed that the suit was initiated by rapper Eric Dwayne Collins, known as RBX, who filed the class action in California federal court in late 2025. The complaint argued that Spotify permitted automated software to boost streams of Drake’s songs, with some tracks showing over 100 million streams originating from suspicious locations lacking residential addresses. The lawsuit described the use of VPNs to obscure the true origin of these streams and contended that bots generated abnormal streaming patterns between different geographic areas. Spotify was accused of insufficiently combating these fraudulent streams, with RBX claiming the platform financially benefits by reporting inflated user numbers, thereby increasing advertisement sales and revenue.

Musically added that Spotify denied profiting from artificial streams and emphasized its investment in advanced technology to detect and remove fake plays. The company highlighted efforts such as withholding royalties and imposing penalties to safeguard legitimate artist earnings. Spotify also pointed to a 2022 case involving a producer indicted for a multi-million-dollar AI music fraud, noting only a small fraction of the illicit streams were connected to Spotify. The platform reported removing 75 million spam or fraudulent tracks the previous year and announced plans to strengthen measures against mass uploads designed to manipulate streaming metrics. Spotify plans to formally respond to the lawsuit through appropriate legal channels.

Drake is a Canadian rapper and actor best known for his breakthrough single “Best I Ever Had” (2009). He has appeared in several film and television roles, including as Jimmy Brooks on Degrassi: The Next Generation, and holds multiple recent nominations for prestigious awards such as the 2024 BET Awards and Grammy Awards.

This article is based on reporting originally published by AllHipHop.