Rapper RBX accused streaming giant Spotify of turning a blind eye to fraud he alleges boosted the streams of songs performed by superstar Drake, according to a federal class action lawsuit filed Sunday.
The suit names as plaintiffs RBX as an individual and "on behalf of other members of the general public similarly situated." The plaintiff alleges that from January 2022 through September 2025, Drake’s songs have benefited from “billions of fraudulent streams” generated by fake users, or bots, on Spotify, according to the suit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.
"The more users (including fake users) Spotify has, the more advertisements it can sell, the more profits the company can report, all of which serves to increase the purported value delivered to shareholders” the suit says.
“This mass-scale fraudulent streaming causes massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers and other rightsholders whose proportional share is decreased as a result of fraudulent stream inflation on Spotify’s platform,” it adds.
The lawsuit does not allege that Drake did anything criminal. Representatives for Drake did not immediately respond to requests for comment early Monday.
Spotify pays artists from a revenue pool, according to its website. It calculates royalty payments from that pool based on an artist’s share of the total number of monthly streams. An artist inflating their streams may take a bigger proportion of the pie than they are actually owed, leaving less payout for other artists.
The lawsuit alleges Spotify failed to prevent bots fraudulently inflating streams for Drake, whose legal name is Aubrey Drake Graham. The rapper is one of the most-streamed artists on the platform, with nearly 81 million monthly listeners.
Spotify recently implemented measures intended to curb "third-party services that guarantee streams."
The lawsuit doesn’t state how much in damages the plaintiffs seek, but says estimates show rights holders were defrauded out of "hundreds of millions of dollars."
"We cannot comment on pending litigation. However, Spotify in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming," a Spotify spokesperson said in a statement. "We heavily invest in always-improving, best-in-class systems to combat it and safeguard artist payouts with strong protections like removing fake streams, withholding royalties, and charging penalties."
The spokesperson added: "Our systems are working: In a case from last year, one bad actor was indicted for stealing $10,000,000 from streaming services, only $60,000 of which came from Spotify, proving how effective we are at limiting the impact of artificial streaming on our platform."
The suit also cites data analysis that the plaintiffs say reveals streams of Drake songs “accumulated far higher total streams” than other artists with "far more" listeners than Drake. The suit does not include an appendix showing the analysis, doesn’t say who conducted it, and NBC News could not independently verify the findings.
RBX, also known as Eric Dwayne Collins, achieved fame decades ago. The artist performed for rap labels Death Row Records and Aftermath Entertainment, alongside artists including Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre.
Other artists have complained about Spotify and its business model. Shirley Manson, the lead singer of alternative group Garbage, told a concert audience in mid-October that the average musician makes little from Spotify.
“They’re sleeping in their vans. They’re holding down numerous jobs. They’re playing their guts out every night. The fact that they are not even able to sell a record and it’s taken from them by rich motherf—--s on streaming platforms,” she said. “They’re all f—ing getting paid, except for the musician.”
Shares of Luxembourg-based Spotify have surged this year, putting its U.S. stock market value well above $100 billion.
While Drake isn’t a defendant in the suit filed by RBX, it comes while the “Hotline Bling” rapper contends with a variety of other legal issues. He’s currently facing a lawsuit over his involvement with an online, crypto-powered casino as well as appealing the dismissal of his defamation case against his label, UMG.
