I stumbled across this site which offers side-to-side comparisons of songs which sound similar.

It’s amazing how many there are already, with more likely to come. The similarities are sometimes a little too similar (and admitted by certain artists).

Some of these raise very complicated copyright issues:

• Was the similarity intentional?
• Is the similarity close enough to demand credit/royalties?
• How close is too close?

Some of these similarities border on the issues of electro producers, who make their music by using actual samples of existing music.

For many of these artists, licenses save them from getting sued by the original content owners, and it ensures the artists responsible for the original music get their due payments from the use.

For those unfamiliar with licensing in music, there are four different types. Each has their own specific use, and sometimes all are needed.

For example, an electro producer, using a sample in a song would require the Master Use Rights, in order to use the original recording within their track, Performing Rights to make it legal to play in public (radio, internet, etc.), and if the choice was made to make a video for the track Synchronization Rights are required to put the piece to video.

For the case of a musical similarity that turned out to be intentional, and was required to find rights, replace Master Use rights with Mechanical Rights, as the original recording isn’t used, but the piece still requires rights for re-recording.

It gets complicated very fast.

Many electro producers miss a great deal of their licenses before release, and require re-releases, or edited versions of their originals. The Avalanches went through this with their 2001 album Since I Left You, and saw slightly different versions released in different countries.

So what constitutes the need for these licenses? Where is the line drawn?

A good case would be to look at Green Day’s 2009 “21 Guns“, which draws heavily on several songs before if, and receives 3 mentions within 2 weeks on music similarity site That Song Sounds Like.

Both the verse and chorus draw so heavily on the songs mentioned, it comes close to being an electro mash-up.

Is the line drawn there? Where seemingly original content comes very shy of being a mash-up? How much leeway is given?

Those are for the courts to decide, but at some point, close is too close, and artists should take heed.

For example, here’s a fun video comparing Cat Stevens songs, and their similar counterparts:

What are your opinions? Where should the line be drawn?

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Technorati Tags: Education, information, Licenses, Money, Music, Music Industry

Education, information, Licenses, Money, Music, Music Industry