‘Blurred Lines‘ may have been 2013’s best selling-hit but that hasn’t stopped it from escaping accusations of sounding like Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up‘. This week saw a final judgement for the song – copyright infringement, leaving Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams having to pay up $7.3 million to Gaye’s family.
Whilst the news is a big blow for the songwriters/vocalists, they are not alone in facing such accusations, just think back to Sam Smith’s ‘Stay With Me‘ resembling Tom Petty’s ‘I Won’t Back Down‘, or even the eruption that occurred between Lady Gaga and Madonna over the ‘Born This Way’/‘Express Yourself’ debate. Considering the vast amount of music that exists, of course the occasional song will sound like another – we’ve picked a select number of tracks which seem to fit under this tag.
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James Bay: Hold Back The River – Demi Lovato: Shouldn’t Come Back
Once he released ‘Hold Back the River‘, James Bay immediately made a name for himself. With backing from the critics of the Brit Awards, as well as being the BBC’s Sound of 2015 runner-up, it looked like music lovers couldn’t get enough of his mellow folk-rock sound. However, whilst a great track in its over right, the acoustic guitar-riffs in the verses sound particularly familiar to Demi Lovato’s ‘Shouldn’t Come Back‘, one of the American popstar’s grittier and more laid back tracks. Hear the resemblance?
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Hilary Duff: All About You – The Lumineers: Ho Hey
Considering she’d had a seven year musical hiatus to focus on acting, Hilary Duff’s musical comeback was always going to get its far share of attention, particularly to see how much her musical style had developed. Following up comeback single ‘Chasing the Sun‘ was ‘All About You‘, a track that was lauded by critics for its catchy folk complimenting Hilary’s sugar-sweet vocals. However, folk is also used to describe the music of The Lumineers, therefore you can definitely hear a bit of ‘Ho Hey‘ or even Imagine Dragons‘ ‘On Top of The World‘ in Hilary’s track, particularly with the conspicuous sound of the banjo.
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OneRepublic: Love Runs Out – Adele: Rumour Has It
One hit of that piano and ‘Love Runs Out‘ immediately has you hooked, its constant beat and booming chorus managing to send rhythm right into your bloodstream. However, Adele’s ‘Rumour Has It‘ has the same effect and seems to share the same distinct qualities – the only thing she does lack is the awesome elderly-woman of OneRepublic’s music video dramatically accompanying her live performance.
