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LinkedIn · Derrick McMichael II

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A federal judge just tossed the class-action lawsuit against Spotify over Drake's allegedly fraudulent streams.

The court said the plaintiffs "failed to allege" how Spotify misled them about fraud prevention. Also said the relationship between Spotify and rightsholders is "commercial" — not one where the platform is expected to "protect a vulnerable party."

Let that sink in.

The platform that takes 30% of streaming revenue and positions itself as the gateway to your audience? Courts say they're not actually responsible for protecting you from bot farms inflating someone else's numbers.

I've been seeing this pattern everywhere lately. Curtiss King put it perfectly — platforms build threshold systems where you need X streams before you get paid, then don't protect the pool you're desperate to access. Adam Ivy's been warning artists for years: the money and platforms change the rules, and you're left holding subscription bills for tools that just 15x'd their price.

The indie artists winning right now aren't waiting for platforms to fix transparency. They're building direct-to-consumer funnels where they own the relationship.

Streaming is discovery. It's not your business model.

What's your move when the platforms say "not our problem"?

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Post ID: febbae72…Platform: LinkedInLast synced: 6/26/2026, 1:54:44 AM

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