Judge Permanently Dismisses Lawsuit Accusing Spotify of Ignoring Fake Drake Streams

The argument that fake streams quietly shortchange working artists has now failed twice in the same federal courtroom. On Friday, U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton permanently dismissed a proposed class action accusing Spotify of turning a blind eye to billions of allegedly fraudulent streams of Drake’s music, ruling that the rapper RBX had not established that the platform owed him a specific legal duty or that he had suffered the type of harm a negligence claim requires.

RBX, whose legal name is Eric Dwayne Collins and who is a cousin of Snoop Dogg, alleged that a “substantial, non-trivial percentage” of Drake’s roughly 37 billion streams came from bot accounts. His theory rested on Spotify’s streamshare model, under which subscription and advertising revenue is pooled and distributed according to an artist’s share of total streams. Inflated numbers for one act, he argued, shrink everyone else’s cut. Drake was not named as a defendant.

Staton had dismissed the case once before and allowed Collins to amend his complaint. In a 16-page ruling, she wrote that the added allegations gave her no reason to depart from her earlier conclusions, describing the relationship between artist and platform as “mutually beneficial economic” despite the power imbalance typical of corporations and individuals. Because the dismissal was made with prejudice, Collins cannot refile the same claims in federal court. Mark Pifko, one of his lead attorneys, told Rolling Stone an appeal is likely.

The order arrives three months after a federal judge in Virginia paused a separate suit accusing Drake and streamer Adin Ross of using Stake.us to bankroll a “bot army” that inflated his streaming numbers. That case remains stayed pending arbitration.