Drake has alleged that Universal Music Group (UMG) and Spotify artificially boosted Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us diss track, that was aimed at him.

Lawyers representing the Canadian artist’s firm Frozen Moments LLC filed a legal petition at a court in Manhattan on Monday making the claims.

It comes after Drake and Lamar, who are both signed to UMG labels, had a high-profile feud earlier this year, targeting one another with diss tracks.

This included Lamar’s Not Like Us single which has been streamed almost 900 million times and savagely attacked Drake, making serious allegations against him and those close to him.

The song proved to be a big hit as the row between the two hip-hop giants spilled into the public realm.

Such disagreements are not unusual in hip-hop but this one came between two artists who had previously collaborated on a number of songs.

‘Contrived and absurd legal arguments’

Drake has claimed that UMG worked to inflate the streams and radio plays of the diss track “to maximise” profits.

He claimed that UMG and Spotify artificially boosted the track’s streams “including by using ‘bots’ and pay-to-play agreements”.

In a statement to Sky News, UMG sharply denied the allegations, with a spokesperson calling them “offensive and untrue”.

They added: “We employ the highest ethical practices in our marketing and promotional campaigns.

“No amount of contrived and absurd legal arguments in this pre-action submission can mask the fact that fans choose the music they want to hear.”

In the legal petition, representatives of Drake claim: “It [UMG] instead launched a campaign to manipulate and saturate the streaming services and airwaves with a song, ‘Not Like Us’, in order to make that song go viral.”

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It also claimed that UMG charged Spotify lower licensing rates than usual to play the song and that Spotify recommended the song to users searching for other content.

The petition also cites the claims of one individual made on a “popular podcast” that he was paid to use bots to inflate the song’s streams.

It also alleges that Apple digital assistant Siri “purposely misdirect[ed] users to ‘Not Like Us'” citing “online sources”.

Monday’s filing is not a full lawsuit but a pre-action petition – a procedure in New York that aims to secure information ahead of a lawsuit.

It isn’t clear if the proceedings will progress to a full lawsuit.

Sky News has approached Spotify and Apple for comment.

Ed Sheeran has apologised to Manchester United’s new manager for interrupting him during a live Sky Sports interview.

Ruben Amorim was speaking after United’s 1-1 draw with Ipswich on Sunday when the singer walked up to hug analyst Jamie Redknapp.

His intervention brought the interview to a halt before Redknapp told Sheeran to “come and say hello in a minute”.

Some people on social media said Sheeran had been “rude” and called for him to apologise.

“Apologies if I offended Amorim yesterday, didn’t actually realise he was being interviewed at the time, was popping to say hi and bye to Jamie,” Sheeran wrote on Instagram.

“Obvz feel a bit of a bellend but life goes on. Great game though, congrats on all involved.”

The game at Portman Road was Amorim’s first since he left Portuguese club Sporting Lisbon to take over at United.

Marcus Rashford scored after two minutes before Omari Hutchinson equalised for the home side.

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Sheeran, a lifelong Ipswich fan, holds a minority stake in the club.

He was pictured celebrating after Hutchinson’s goal.

Last week Ipswich CEO Mark Ashton said Sheeran helped the club sign a new player in the off-season by taking a Zoom call with him just before he went on stage with Taylor Swift.

Kate Nash says selling photos of her bottom on the X-rated site OnlyFans has allowed her to add an extra crew member to her tour staff.

The 37-year-old singer says the fact she is having to subsidise her shows in this way shows that the music industry is “completely broken”.

She announced she was launching her OnlyFans account last week as she began the UK leg of her tour, and has previously said on Instagram that, “touring makes losses not profits”.

Speaking about her new venture to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme she said it was “very funny” and “fun to do,” adding, “My industry is completely broken, I don’t think it’s sustainable, and I think it’s a complete failure, I think it will collapse as well”.

Going on to talk about “people finding solutions to fund their art,” she said: “I think it’s quite empowering, and I’m also creating jobs with my bum now.

“For example, I couldn’t bring a crew member that’s on tour with me in the UK to Europe, but now I can, because of my OnlyFans website.”

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She has previously described the career move as a “punk protest,” containing “lots of comedy”.

Speaking to LBC last week, she said: “The cost of touring has gone up. Just like the cost of living crisis, there’s a cost-of-touring crisis – where the cost of travel, accommodation, crew wages, bus rental, all the things that you need to pay for when you go on tour, everything’s gone up.

“But a lot of bands’ and artists’ fees for gigs have not gone up, whereas ticket prices have gone up.”

Nash also said music was an “exploitative industry,” adding, “I have had lots of experience of being exploited”.

She said it could “learn a lot from the sex industry”.

Beginning her career in 2005, Nash has had one UK top 10 single – 2007’s Foundations – and two UK top 10 albums.

She has just finished a three-week US tour and is now touring the UK before moving on to Europe. Her London gig later this week is sold out.

And Nash isn’t the only one branching out to bring in cash. Lily Allen said earlier this year that she had joined OnlyFans to sell photographs of her feet.

The 39-year-old Smile singer, who moved to the US in 2020, says she has “very strict guidelines” and is charging subscribers $10 (£8) a month to view images of her feet on the platform.