Spotify Wins as the Judge Dismisses the Lawsuit Filed by RBX for Providing Fake Streams to Drake

Global music streaming giant Spotify has been accused by Snoop Dogg’s cousin, RBX, of offering fake streams to popular rappers to help them earn money illegally. However, the lawsuit of making music popular with bots has been permanently dismissed by the judge.

The class-action lawsuit claimed allegedly fraudulent streams, and the case started last November. The lawsuit was dismissed by the judge on Friday as they found that rapper RBX has failed to establish the claim. The lead plantiff for the lawsuit could not proof that Spotify owed him any legal duty or suffered any kind of harm from the platform that affects his well-being or earnings.

Josephine L. Staton, the U.S. District Judge, said that RBX failed to provide sufficient facts to support the claims that Spotify has engaged in fraudulent streams to help Drake gain more streams. Eric Dwayne Collins, better known as RBX, failed to prove unfair enforcement of fake streams or the fact the streaming platform that harm the competitors or even consumers on the platform.

Staton wrote, “Although plaintiff may have less power in the music industry as compared to Spotify, that does not mean his relationship with Spotify is characterized by any protection Spotify gives to plaintiff.” She further added that the allegations helped to display a “mutually beneficial economic” relationship rather than imbalance or illegal dealings between the individuals and corporations.

The complaint by RBX claimed that a “substantial, non-trivial percentage” of the total streams gained by Drake on Spotify, which amounts to 37 billion streams, were “inauthentic and appeared to be the work of a sprawling network of bot accounts.” RBX’s claim represents that the royalty system of Spotify allows a few selected artists to siphon the streams deserved by legitimate artists and, as a result, they are unable to make money.

The ‘streamshare’ model on Spotify, along with advertising revenue and subscriptions, helps to form a pool of money which is later shared with the artists on the platform based on how many streams the artist gained. According to RBX’s claim, only some selected and popular artists get a bigger portion of the pie, while other artists are unable to make money even after gaining legitimate and organic streams.

The lawsuit does not directly accuse Drake, and his name is not listed as a defendant. The ‘Nokia’ rapper has refused to make any comments on the lawsuit. Similarly, the lawyers for Spotify also did not provide any immediate response to it. One of the lead attorneys from the legal team, Mark Pifko, said, “We are reviewing the order, but an appeal is likely.” As the case is dismissed, RBX cannot make the same claims anymore in federal court.

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