Are 37 Billion of Drake’s Streams on Spotify Fake? Rapper RBX, Snoop Dogg’s Cousin, Accuses Music Streaming App of Fraudulent Practices, Files Lawsuit
Artistes have in the past been accused of buying views on video platforms like YouTube, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. Now, music streaming giant Spotify has been accused of fudging the numbers of American rapper Drake in a complaint filed by singer Snoop Dogg’s cousin, rapper RBX. According to reports, the Grammy Award-winning singer, Drake has more than 122 billion streams on Spotify, making him one of the most-streamed artistes on Spotify, alongside current No.1 Taylor Swift, The Weeknd, Bad Bunny, and Indian singer Arijit Singh. Spotify on its part, has denied the allegations, sharing its policy on fraudulent streams by external parties. Read on to know more. Spotify to Develop AI Music Products in Partnership with Major Record Labels.
Drake’s Page on Spotify – Check Here:
Are Drake’s Numbers on Spotify Fake? Here’s What RBX’s Lawsuit Says
According to the complaint filed by RBX in the US District Court for the Central District of California, it is alleged that Drake (and presumably other artistes) have benefited from fake streaming numbers on Spotify. NBC reports that in the lawsuit filed on November 2, 2025, by RBX individually and “on behalf of other members of the general public similarly situated,” the rapper alleged that Drake’s songs have had “billions of fraudulent streams” on Spotify for more than three years – from January 2022 to September 2025. Around 37 billion of these streams were allegedly generated by bots or fake users, RBX alleged. As of November 5, Spotify has listed Drake as having 80,699,272 monthly listeners on its platform. This number is visible on Drake’s page on Spotify. Netflix-Spotify Partnership: Video Podcasts From Spotify Studios and the Ringer Network Coming to Streaming Giant in Early 2026.
“Every month, under Spotify’s watchful eye, billions of fraudulent streams are generated from fake, illegitimate, and/or illegal methods,” says the complaint, as per Rolling Stone magazine. It further alleges that such a “mass scale” streaming fraud “causes massive financial harm to legitimate artists, songwriters, producers, and other rightsholders.” The complaint by RBX further claimed that Drake’s song streaming data showed “abnormal VPN usage” and fake, obscured locations of bot accounts. The lawsuit also questions the revenue-sharing pool model of Spotify.
What Does Spotify Have to Say on Streaming Fraud Allegations?
Spotify has replied to the lawsuit on its Drake song streams through a statement. According to Rolling Stone, Spotify spokesperson said, “We cannot comment on pending litigation. However, Spotify in no way benefits from the industry-wide challenge of artificial streaming… 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.” R Ilaiyaraaja vs Sony Music Case: Company Refuses To Share Revenue Details Citing Confidentiality; Madras High Court Defers Hearing Until Supreme Court Decides Transfer Plea to Bombay High Court.
The Spotify statement further read: “Our systems are working: In a case from last year, one bad actor was indicted for stealing $10 million 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 statement did not name Drake.
A Spotify page on artificial streaming was shared for additional affirmation of its policy against fraudulent practices on the music app. In a blog titled All you need to know about artificial streaming, Spotify explains what is artificial streaming and how it is “a problem across the music industry”. It goes on to explain what Spotify does to tackle the issue.
There is no statement from Drake at the time of publishing this article.
(The above story first appeared on Today News 24 on Nov 05, 2025 08:11 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website todaynews24.top).
