The The Game is suing UMG and Virgin Music Group for $500,000 over their alleged marketing budget failure with promoting his 2022 album, Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind. This legal action highlights the ongoing tensions regarding the The Game UMG lawsuit and the responsibilities of major labels during an album’s critical release cycle.
According to a report in Billboard, published on Friday (Oct. 2), The Game’s label, 100 Entertainment, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday (Sept. 30) against UMG and Virgin Music for breach of contract. The filing claims that the music conglomerates failed to fully utilize the $500,000 allocated for the marketing of Drillmatic, which the plaintiff argues resulted in poor commercial performance for the project.
Allegations of Mismanaged Marketing Funds
In the suit, The Game’s attorney, Michael Trauben, alleges that UMG spent only a fraction of the recoupable marketing budget—specifically $179,000—while neglecting essential digital marketing strategies and providing zero funding for radio promotion. Trauben further asserted that 100 Entertainment was forced to pay out of pocket to keep the album rollout on schedule, including costs associated with promoting the music video for the single, “Stupid” featuring Big Sean. The lawsuit claims that UMG has yet to reimburse these accrued expenses.
“Deprived of nearly two-thirds of its bargained-for promotional support during the critical release cycle, the album did not perform as it would have had Defendants administered the marketing and promotion fund as the parties approved,” Trauben reportedly wrote in the complaint. “Plaintiff thereby lost royalties, streaming and sales revenues, and related income that the album would have generated with the promised marketing support, in an amount to be proven at trial.”
Label Response and Album Context
According to Billboard, UMG and Virgin have denied any breach of contract in prior legal dispatches to 100 Entertainment. XXL has reached out to both The Game’s attorney and UMG for further comment.
Drillmatic was released on Aug. 12, 2022. The 30-track collection featured an extensive list of high-profile collaborators, including Lil Wayne, Ye, Rick Ross, Chris Brown, Meek Mill, A$AP Rocky, and Roddy Ricch.
