A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Spotify of ignoring artificial streams tied to Drake, ending the case in the trial court after finding that the allegations were not supported by sufficient detail. The complaint, brought by rapper RBX, alleged that as many as 37 billion streams were connected to fraudulent activity.
U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning the same accusations cannot be filed again in federal court. Staton addressed the claims individually in a 16-page decision, according to the decision obtained by Complex.
“Other than conclusory statements about Spotify turning a ‘blind eye’ to artificial streaming of tracks from popular artists like Drake, the amended lawsuit contains no other allegations about how Spotify selectively enforces its policies against artificial streaming,” Josephine L. Staton wrote.
RBX is the professional name of Eric Dwayne Collins, a Long Beach rapper known for his association with Snoop Dogg and for appearing on Dr. Dre’s “The Chronic.” His original class-action complaint, filed in November, accused Spotify of failing to prevent streaming fraud and argued that the platform allowed activity that inflated Drake’s numbers and misled users.
Collins also alleged that accounts promoting Drake’s music listened for as long as 23 hours a day. The court’s ruling rejected the case after concluding that the complaint did not explain how Spotify selectively applied its rules or provide factual support for the accusation that the company and Drake manipulated streams.
Case was amended after earlier dismissal
The lawsuit had already been dismissed once in June. Collins’ legal team filed an amended complaint in mid-July, a little more than two weeks after that decision, but the revised filing also failed to satisfy the court.
- The initial complaint alleged that Spotify failed to stop artificial streaming.
- The amended case was dismissed with prejudice by Judge Staton.
- Mark Pifko, one of Collins’ lead attorneys, said an appeal will be pursued.
Pifko told Rolling Stone that Collins’ legal team intends to appeal the dismissal. Because the case was dismissed with prejudice, an appeal is the remaining path for challenging the ruling in the federal court system.
The decision arrives as streaming manipulation remains a major issue for the music business. Artificial plays can affect how songs perform on platforms, although the ruling addressed the legal sufficiency of RBX’s allegations rather than establishing that Drake’s streams were fraudulent. Spotify has said it has removed more than 50 million pieces of AI-generated material and spam, reflecting the platform’s broader efforts to address manipulated or low-quality content.
