Kendrick/Drake Beef: Can a label ask radio not to play a song?

A diss-track battle between two of the world's biggest hip-hop stars has led to cryptic claims that Drake steered his heavyweight record label to win a hit with Kendrick Lamar off the airwaves. But would such a move be possible?

Probably not, say legal experts who study broadcasting rights and the music industry. “As a general rule, broadcasters have a great deal of discretion over what they put on the air — almost unlimited discretion,” he says Charles Naftalin, a Washington, DC, attorney with Holland & Knight specializing in telecommunications law. “A station is pretty much free to pick and choose what it wants.”

Lamar's new song “euphoria,” which was released on April 30, claims that Drake and Republic tried to “try to stop and stop the 'Like That' record” — a reference to the recent Future–Metro Boomin hit featuring a Lamar verse attacking last year's Drake-J Cole dropped “First Person Shooter” and helped spark the recent back-and-forth between the two rappers.Then a screenshot of an alleged email surfaced on social media purporting to be from a Republic business affairs executive stating “we do not grant radio rights” to “Like That.” (Reps for Republic and Universal Music Group, the label's parent company, did not respond to requests for comment, and the screenshot could not be verified.)

Hypothetically, if Lamar's lyrical claim was true and the Republic executive's email was legitimate, how could a label, even the home of Taylor Swift, Morgan Wallen, The Weeknd and Post Malone, which has the largest market share of sector, to achieve such a thing. movement? One possible explanation stems from the fact that “Like That” is an unusual business partnership — it's a joint release by rival majors, Universal-owned Republic and Sony's Epic. The first is Metro Boomin's label. the latter is Future's label. (Adding confusion to the case: Lamar records for Interscope, which is also owned by UMG, so he is, in a very broad sense, Drake's partner.)

Because Republic contributed to the release of “Like That,” it's conceivable — though highly unlikely — that the label would demand that radio stations stop playing its own song. “I don't easily see a legal reason to seek removal from radio based solely on specific lyrics that are in the song,” he says. Matt Basser, a lawyer who represents top artists and music companies. “However, there could be a valid legal reason for the takedown based on the promotional grant and understanding between the two collaborating labels.”

Like Buser, Larry KenswillThe retired UMG business and legal affairs executive has no idea what's in the contractual agreement between Republic and Epic for “Like That.” (A representative for Sony, Epic's parent company, also did not respond to a request for comment.) But he's sure Republic doesn't have the right to demand the radio be removed. If Lamar's “euphoric” lyric about a hiatus and resignation is true, Kenswil says, “The artist [Drake] complained to the label [Republic] and the company felt they had to do something to satisfy the artist. But, of course, we probably don't have the full story.”

He adds: “This happens all the time. Artists tell their lawyers: “Send a cease and desist.” The lawyer says, “Hey, I don't think they're doing anything wrong.” “Send in a cease and desist or I'll fire you.” And they send the cease-and-desist — and don't follow it.''' Evidence for Kenswil's theory: Not only did 'Like That' come out, but radio played the track, debuting at No. 1 on the Hot 100 and stayed there for three weeks. And as of this writing, “Like That” is No. 21 on the all-time Radio Songs chart.