All articles tagged with #musicology
Danish musician Carl Martin highlights a simple four-note melody that appears across global pop songs, a pattern showcased in a viral video; musicologist Nate Sloan calls the cyclical tune’s emotional pull “pretty stunning,” suggesting the Gen Alpha melody may have emerged independently in various songs and resonates with digital-age listeners.
Ed Sheeran has been found not liable for copying Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic for his own "Thinking Out Loud" in the music industry's highest-profile copyright case in years. Sheeran's victory maintains music copyright's status quo, and the "Let's Get It On" side faced a difficult burden. Musicologists hired as expert witnesses for each side presented dry, abstract analyses of the music and seemed to take every opportunity to put each other down. Race played less of a role than expected at trial.
The Ed Sheeran copyright infringement trial has gone into deliberations after closing statements. The judge instructed the jury that independent creation is a complete defense, and the plaintiffs needed to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that Sheeran actually copied and wrongfully copied Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On." Sheeran's attorney argued that similarities in chords or rhythm are basic musical building blocks that songwriters must be free to use. The trial began six months after Townsend's heirs filed their copyright suit.
Ed Sheeran defended himself in a copyright trial in Manhattan, where he was accused of copying Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" in his hit ballad "Thinking Out Loud." Sheeran demonstrated the four-chord sequence at the heart of his song, which he said was written in a few hours in early 2014 with his friend and longtime collaborator Amy Wadge. Sheeran denied playing a minor chord that was similar to the one in "Let's Get It On" and testified for nearly an hour, recounting his career trajectory from hardscrabble teenage beginnings to global stardom.
A musicologist testified in court that Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" and Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On" share a similar chord progression and "have the same harmonic rhythm" in the copyright infringement trial against Sheeran. However, the testimony was overshadowed when the daughter of the late "Let's Get It On" co-writer collapsed in court during cross-examination. The trial, which was initially filed in 2016, is expected to continue with Sheeran testifying in his own defense later in the week.