Music Industry

Pharrell Williams says that the “Blurred Lines” verdict was awful for music. Yeah, no sh*t.

When a jury ruled that the vibe of Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (a song co-written by Pharrell Williams) was too similar to Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up,” most of the music world recoiled in horror. Yes, it has the same feel but not the same notes, the same tempo or the same anything else. It just had a similar groove.

That’s not theft, plagiarism, violation of intellectual property, or infringement of copyright. That’s called being influenced by an artist that came before. At worst, it’s an homage.

Nope. That ruling as set off a series of insane plagiarism allegations where every hit song is being scrutinized by ambulance-chasing lawyers hoping to cash in for some client who wrote a song that just happened to have used some of the 12 notes in the Western scale in a quasi-similar fashion.

In an interview with producer Rick Rubin, Pharrell gives his side of the story. I, for one, am on his side.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 38031 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “Pharrell Williams says that the “Blurred Lines” verdict was awful for music. Yeah, no sh*t.

  • Sad and ridiculous.

    Reply
  • The Cult’s “Electric”, anybody?

    Reply

Let us know what you think!

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.