The Game says that his record label refused to follow through on their marketing promises for his 2022 album, leaving almost two-thirds of a promised $500,000 unspent, which in turn significantly hurt his sales.
The L.A. rapper’s company 100 Entertainment, Inc. filed a lawsuit on Wednesday (Sept. 30) in California Superior Court against Universal Music Group and Virgin.
The Game says that UMG promised him a half-million dollar marketing and promotion fund for his 2022 LP Drillmatic — Heart vs. Mind, a full $125,000 of which was intended for radio.
Instead, he alleges, the label spent only $179,274.79, none of which went to radio. The complaint says that the plurality of the money spent ($87,947.58 of a promised $170,000) went to videos, with the rest split between out-of-home advertising, digital, and overseas promotion. This happened, the complaint continues, despite the label signing off on a marketing plan that covered the entire promised amount.
As a result, The Game says he had to spend his own money on marketing, including paying “a substantial portion of the production costs” for the video for the Big Sean-featuring track “Stupid.”
The fact that the label shorted the marketing budget, the complaint alleges, meant that the LP’s commercial performance suffered, and that The Game as a result lost out on royalties, streaming revenue, and money from album sales. He is suing for damages of at least $500,000, as well as court costs and attorneys’ fees.
Complex has reached out to The Game’s lawyers for comment, but they did not immediately respond.
