Spotify Hit With Class-Action Lawsuit Alleging “Billions” of Fake Drake Streams

Spotify is facing fresh legal scrutiny after a new class-action lawsuit filed in California alleged that the streaming giant ignored mass-scale fake streams on its platform — with Drake named as the primary beneficiary.

Filed Sunday night in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, the lawsuit accuses Spotify of “turning a blind eye” to “billions” of fraudulent plays between January 2022 and September 2025. The suit, led by veteran rapper RBX — a cousin of Snoop Dogg — claims that this widespread “bot activity” has caused massive financial harm to smaller, legitimate artists.

Despite Drake being referenced throughout the complaint, he is not a defendant in the case. Spotify is the sole target of the lawsuit.

“Billions” of Allegedly Fake Streams

According to the complaint, a “substantial and non-trivial percentage” of Drake’s 37 billion total Spotify streams were “inauthentic,” allegedly generated by bot accounts and coordinated VPN usage to disguise their true origins. The filing cites suspicious activity such as abnormal listening patterns, geographic anomalies, and users streaming Drake’s songs up to 23 hours a day.

In one cited example, over a four-day period in 2024, 250,000 streams of Drake’s song “No Face” reportedly originated from Turkey, though VPN data made them appear to come from the U.K. The lawsuit suggests these patterns point to systemic bot usage that Spotify “knew or should have known about.”

While the filing does not accuse Drake of orchestrating the manipulation, it argues that he profited significantly through inflated royalty payouts, further deepening inequality within the streaming ecosystem.

Charlamagne Tha God predicts that the next major federal investigation will target artists who rely on bot farms in Turkey. His comment follows the recent class-action lawsuit filed against Spotify , which alleges that some of Drake streams were fake pic.twitter.com/0LjFuFR1iF

— joebuddenclips/fanpage (@chatnigga101) November 3, 2025

How Streaming Fraud Hurts Artists

Spotify’s streamshare model pools all subscription and ad revenue, distributing it based on each artist’s share of total streams. When fake streams are introduced, they artificially boost top-tier artists’ numbers — like Drake’s — and reduce payouts for smaller, independent musicians.

Attorney Mark Pifko of the law firm Baron & Budd, representing RBX, said in a statement: “When streams are artificially inflated on a large scale, it affects the income of countless songwriters, performers, and producers. This lawsuit seeks to ensure fair compensation and transparency for all creators.”

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Spotify Denies Wrongdoing

In response, Spotify issued a statement strongly denying the allegations, asserting that it “in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming.”

The company claims it invests heavily in “best-in-class systems” to detect and remove fake streams, with measures such as withholding royalties and charging penalties to bad actors. Spotify highlighted a 2024 case where an individual stole $10 million from streaming platforms — only $60,000 of which came from Spotify — as proof of the platform’s relative effectiveness.

However, the lawsuit disputes this, suggesting Spotify benefits indirectly by showcasing inflated stream counts and user engagement to advertisers. “For Spotify, more streams mean more ad dollars — as long as the true source remains hidden,” the complaint alleges.

Streaming Fraud: A Growing Industry Problem

The lawsuit comes amid rising global concerns about streaming manipulation, which experts estimate could cost the industry up to $3 billion annually. A 2023 study in France found that between 1–3% of all music streams are fake, while companies like Beatdapp estimate the figure could be closer to 10%.

Authorities in Turkey, Denmark, Brazil, and the United States have all opened investigations into streaming fraud, with recent arrests underscoring the scale of the problem.

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The California class action, which seeks over $5 million in damages, could open the door to wider legal scrutiny of Spotify’s data practices. For Drake — who is not accused of wrongdoing — the case marks yet another headline following his recent legal battles involving gambling promotions and his own lawsuit against Universal Music Group earlier this year.

As questions mount over how much of the world’s biggest artists’ success is organic, the lawsuit may become a defining moment for streaming transparency — and for the credibility of platforms like Spotify itself.