Mick Jagger and Lorde among stars demanding power over song use at political rallies
Move follows months of controversy over use of songs at Trump rallies
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Your support makes all the difference.Mick Jagger, Lorde and Sia are among the stars to have signed a letter demanding politicians seek permission before playing their music at campaign rallies and public events.
The letter, written in collaboration with the Artist Rights Alliance, comes amid a series of controversies involving the use of music at Donald Trump rallies.
It calls for the establishment of a clear policy that would require “campaigns to seek consent of featured recording artists, songwriters and copyright owners before publicly using their music in a political or campaign setting”.
The letter continues: “As artists, activists and citizens, we ask you to pledge that all candidates you support will seek consent from featured recording artists and songwriters before using their music in campaign and political settings.
“This is the only way to effectively protect your candidates from legal risk, unnecessary public controversy and the moral quagmire that comes from falsely claiming or implying an artist’s support or distorting an artists’ expression in such a high stakes public way.”
Other signers of the letter include Blondie, Sheryl Crow, Green Day, Lionel Richie, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler and Rosanne Cash, singer/songwriter daughter of Johnny Cash.
In June, the Rolling Stones issued a legal warning to the Trump campaign after their track “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” was played at a rally in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
The estate for the late musician Tom Petty also condemned Trump’s use of his track “I Won’t Back Down” at the same rally. In a statement, the estate declared their upset at the track being used in “a campaign of hate”.
Musicians including Elton John and Brendon Urie, along with the estate for Prince, have also hit out at Trump rallies using their music in recent months.
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