{
  "id": 11328566,
  "title": "The Game’s Label Sues UMG for Under-Promoting His 2022 Album: ‘Diminished Commercial Performance’",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/02/the-games-label-sues-umg-for-under-promoting-his-2022-album",
  "topic": "culture",
  "section": "Culture",
  "published": "2026-10-02T01:22:31.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Billboard",
    "slug": "billboard",
    "url": "https://www.billboard.com/pro/the-game-lawsuit-umg-under-promoting-2022-album/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Universal Music Group (UMG) is being sued by The Game's independent record label, 100 Entertainment, for allegedly under-promoting The Game's 2022 album, Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind. The lawsuit, filed on Wednesday, September 30, claims that UMG spent only a third of the promised marketing budget on the album. 100 Entertainment, which had an exclusive distribution deal with UMG's Virgin Music Group for Drillmatic, alleges that the album would have performed better if UMG had allocated more funds to promotion. The lawsuit states that UMG only spent $179,000 of the promised $500,000 recoupable marketing budget, and failed to promote the album through key digital channels and radio promotion. The label had to cover a \"substantial portion\" of the music video production for the single \"Stupid\" featuring Big Sean, but UMG has yet to reimburse these costs. The lawsuit seeks financial damages of at least $500,000 for the album's \"diminished commercial performance,\" as the lack of promotional support has resulted in lower royalties, streaming, and sales revenues for The Game. UMG and Virgin have denied any breach of contract in previous communications with 100 Entertainment.",
  "summary": "The rapper's label alleges UMG's Virgin Music Group spent just a third of the marketing budget for Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind .",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}