Why A Copied Song Isn’t Always Bad

Illustration by Meghan Zhang

For anyone who listens  to music, there has most likely been a point where they have noticed similarities between a new song and some old song they heard long ago. Some examples tend to be more obvious, and some require careful analysis to see if the songs are too close for comfort or not. Of course, it’s not uncommon for an artist to borrow elements of other pieces of music and rework them within the context of their own artistry. Often, the artists will give writing credits to the original artists, along with some percentage of the revenues from the song. One recent example would be “7 Rings”, by Ariana Grande, which infamously borrows the melody-line from “My Favourite Things” from “The Sound of Music”. In this case, Oscar Hammerstein II and Richard Rodgers are both credited on the song for their work, even though the Ariana Grande song came 54 years after the movie. Whenever an instance of borrowing comes about in music, there is always a deluge of individuals who claim that this is not “real artistry” and that works should be original. Let us understand the different words used for recycling and sharing musical ideas, before coming back to discuss the wider implications on creativity and originality in music.

The “7 Rings” example is one of the best examples of interpolation in music. This refers to the act of including melody lines, or musical elements, of another work without directly interspersing segments of the original recording. For something to be classified as an interpolation, the new song must be distinct enough from the original song. If Ariana Grande was to keep the words of the song the same as the original, while also keeping most elements of the instrumentals similar, it would be different. One step up from an interpolation, a full (or almost full) re-performance of a song is classified as a cover. A cover, most often, cannot be thought of as a new song, but rather a new performance of an existing piece of music. 2021 Eurovision winners Måneskin demonstrate this concept in their 2017 cover of “Beggin”,originally by The Four Seasons in 1967. “Beggin”, perhaps due to its incredibly catchy hook, has been covered multiple times, including by French drum and bass producer Pilooski. This is to say that a cover does not necessarily have to remain entirely faithful to the original production (The Four Seasons actually specialised most in soul). What can be thought of as the estranged sibling of the cover is the remix. Where the cover consists of entirely original performance, remixes often pick up certain elements or tracks from the original recording, while also adding their own separate elements. It should be noted here that, while remixes often move to a different genre, the general musical elements in the song should still be similar.

A remix typically does not go as far as making the song completely unrecognizable from the original song. One example of a remix would be “Despacito”. Originally released by Luis Fonsi and Daddy Yankee, the song skyrocketed to fame in the anglosphere after a remix by Justin Bieber, where all elements of the original track were kept, but an additional verse by Bieber was added. Some remixes are more elaborate, like HVME’s remix of Travis Scott’s “Goosebumps”, which only kept slight bits of the original instrumental and Scott’s vocals. If a song only borrows part of the original recording of a song and reworks it into their own, the borrowed music becomes a sample. Sampling is perhaps one of the most controversial practices in modern music, and covers, interpolations, and remixes sometimes get incorrectly lumped in along with samples. Some samples can be extremely unchanged compared to the original, with one of the best examples being Vanilla Ice’s “Ice, Ice, Baby”, which blatantly samples “Under Pressure” by Queen and David Bowie. Quite impressively, Vanilla Ice did not actually give any credits to either artist initially, only doing so after threats of legal action. Other cases can be quite ingenious. I implore any readers to search for a video demonstrating the creative splicing andrearrangement used in Britney Spears’ “Toxic”, sampling “Tere Mere Beech Mein”, although this sample is not credited.

Now, approaching the debate with some sense of the vocabulary, is it ethical to borrow music?

For starters, remixes and covers are almost never considered new songs, and by nature must credit the original artist, or it would be outright theft. Words and long melodies are much easier to prove plagiarism than shorter and loose musical ideas, and thus, any cover artist or remixing producer must offer credit, and they most likely may not be allowed to use the piece for revenue, unless they have obtained permission from the original. Samples, unless well hidden, will often receive credit as well and most artists in the modern music scene will obtain permission beforehand, even if only for avoiding the hassle of legal back-and-forth. Interpolations, however, exist in a legal gray area. Much like samples, some artists will accept that they have to give credit, even if the interpolation is not too similar. Olivia Rodrigo’s “Good 4 U” can be a good example, crediting Hailey Williams and John Farro of Paramore for similarities to their song “Misery Business”, and giving 50% of song revenue to the band. The two songs are both in the same musical genre and use the same basic musical structure in their choruses (as do many famous pop-rock songs), which is the locus of contention. Sometimes, an interpolation can come about completely naturally, with an artist unknowingly mixing one or two musical thoughts in their head. While most artists will generally accept accusations of interpolation and give credit. However, there have been some more asinine accusations where the artist has fought back and won. After Ed Sheeran released the hit “Thinking Out Loud”, the estate of Marvin Gaye brought legal action against Sheeran for alleged copying of Gaye’s “Thinking Out Loud”, for similarities in chord progression and rhythmic sequences. While it was true that the harmony and rhythms of the two songs were practically identical, the case was panned and ridiculed by a wide cast of musical experts. It was argued by some that the harmonic progression used in the song, paired with that specific rhythm, are so ubiquitous in that genre that they cannot be ‘owned’ by anyone. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit eventually ruled in favour of Sheeran, and credits were never given to Gaye. 

While it can be annoying to hear your favourite artist borrow an element of someone else’s song, or to have the melody from your favourite song used in a new song from an artist you don’t know, I recommend we take a new perspective: what did they add to what they borrowed? Oftentimes, a sampled song does not replace the original song, it merely adds another face to it. I believe there is artistic merit in sampling, or interpolating, or even remixing or covering someone else’s work and managing to add one’s own artistry. That being said, lazy and uncreative samples/interpolations/covers/remixes should absolutely be criticized. All I suggest is, maybe give them a chance next time you hear about them