"Drake throwing up lol" — Internet reacts to Spotify announcing new multiyear deal with Universal Music Group

Universal Music Group and Spotify recently announced a new multiyear deal for music publishing and recorded music, on January 26, 2025. The publishing agreement has established a direct license between Spotify and the music company across the former's current portfolio in the US as well as many other countries.

According to a report by Reuters dated January 26, 2025, both companies mentioned in a statement:

"Artists, songwriters and consumers will benefit from new and evolving offers, new paid subscription tiers, bundling of music and non-music content, and a richer audio and visual content catalog."

Netizens quickly took to X to comment on Spotify's deal with Universal Music Group, especially amid the two being at the helm of Drake's lawsuit against UMG. Commenting on the same, an X user tweeted:

"Drake throwing up lol."

"Ay man, this Drake lawsuit...," an X user commented.

"Drake is pushing buttons," another user mentioned.

Internet users also commented on how Spotify and UMG's multiyear deal will expand opportunities for monetization with "Super Premium" subscription tiers, including hi-resolution audio, artist Q&As, and early music access.

"'Super-Premium' please don't piss me off,'" an internet user stated.

"Artists can talk directly to fans through social media and labels still think they should control that," another user said.

"Nah this is a direct response to the success of independent artists and streamers btw. Now anyone signed to UMG imprint gets a bigger slice of the pie while independent artists take a hit," a netizen tweeted.

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"He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression": Universal Music Group responds to Drake's lawsuit

On January 15, 2025, Drake filed a defamation lawsuit against Universal Music Group over Kendrick Lamar's diss track Not Like Us. The rapper alleged in his lawsuit that UMG artificially boosted Lamar's track and claimed that the music company spread a “false and malicious narrative” of him being a p*dophile.

According to a report by Variety dated January 15, 2025, a spokesperson for Universal Music Group called Drake's claims "untrue," adding that the notion regarding the company trying to harm the reputation of any artist is "illogical."

The spokesperson further said that UMG has invested massively in Drake's music, and the company's employees worldwide have worked "tirelessly" for years to help the rapper "achieve historic commercial and personal financial success."

The UMG spokesperson also mentioned that throughout his career, Drake successfully and intentionally used the music company to distribute his music to "engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists." The spokesperson added:

"He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music."

Universal Music Group's representative further said the company will "vigorously defend" itself against Drake's litigation to protect its people and reputation. The spokesperson concluded by saying that they are also going to defend any artist who might directly or indirectly become "a frivolous litigation target" for simply writing a song.

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According to the Reuters report, Spotify founder and CEO Daniel Ek mentioned that the music streaming platform's partnership with UMG will ensure continuous innovation and make music subscriptions more attractive to a wider set of worldwide audiences.