Debates about whether or not a band’s piece of music has been ripped off by another artist (the furor over Delta Goodrem and Arcade Fire continues to simmer quietly with some tenacious fans) and updates on a band’s tune being unlawfully used for a television commercial are rarely out of the news.
The year has been spattered with quarrels between artists and advertising companies who sample their music, or recreate suspiciously similar versions after being refused permission.
As previously reported, Melbourne’s cult 80s band GOD’s seminal track “My Pal”, or guitar riffs and drum beats that sound remarkably similar, being used in the latest advertising campaign by Mercedes-Benz.
As The Music Network reports, the most recent example is in the UK, where self-proclaimed “heavy-pop” band Wu Lyf have expressed anger over their track, “Heavy Pop”, being used in a “chauvinistic” Toyota car advert.
Wu Lyf took to their Facebook page to voice their anger in a statement reading:
TO ANYBODY INTERESTED AS TO WHY WE ARE FEATURED IN A TOYOTA ADVERT:
We too are interested to know why our music is featured in a sexist sports car advert that encourages men to live out their ‘inner chauvinist’.
We have not consented to this, we have not earned a penny from this and on behalf of the band I am fucking angry about this.
The advertisement in question is for Toyota’s new ‘progressive’ campaign for the GT 86 (which you can view in the banner). Their forward-thinking ways show men surprising their wives with their new purchase of the sports car and filming their shocked and often outraged expressions.
Apparently they don’t need to clear copyright for music either, as Wu Lyf’s reaction is not dissimilar to the significant others featured in the advertisement; although the band do joke on Facebook, they “Wouldn’t have minded so much if it was for a Lamborghini.”
The list of commentators, including both fans and cynics, following the statement contain some mixed reactions.“We have not consented to this, we have not earned a penny from this and on behalf of the band I am fucking angry about this!”
One comments, “You got what you deserved its called publishing you signed a deal to employ a publisher to exploit your income… If you don’t like the taste of it then don’t sign a publishing deal.”
However, fans of the band implore to “stop bullshitting” because “never ever” would the agency use a song without securing the rights beforehand, causing others to congratulate the Manchester musicians on their buzz strategy: they’ve received more ‘likes’ thanks to the campaign and new fans say not to blame the car company for this.
Whether or not permission was granted by the band, it’s not the first, nor the last, time songs have been used without an artist’s knowledge.
At the beginning of the year, John Butler’s well-recognisable riff from track “Zebra” was meticulously copied for a yoghurt advertisement that aired during the US Superbowl; an event which attracts over 100 million people in the US and where the limited advertising spots during the game cost around $3.5 million per 30 seconds.
Other Australian acts who were ripped-off included The Grates, whose 2008 single “Aw Yeah” was re-recorded for a New Zealand Weet-Bix ad. “They asked us if they could record a version of this song for the ad. We said no. Can’t believe they did it anyway, jerks,” the band tweeted.
Some receive generous pay-offs, though, as local Canberra band Tonk did, when they discovered their songs were used not once but twice in the popular US sitcom How I Met Your Mother.
Even a most polite declination by Beach House won’t suffice. An ad agency persisted for weeks to use their song “Take Care” in a Volkswagen commercial to no avail. So they did the next best (/worst) thing they could think of and created their own track to mimic Beach House’s.
