{"id":22652,"date":"2020-11-02T03:18:36","date_gmt":"2020-11-02T03:18:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=22652"},"modified":"2020-11-03T14:16:16","modified_gmt":"2020-11-03T14:16:16","slug":"us-election-2020-how-the-rival-candidates-have-used-music-in-their-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/us-election-2020-how-the-rival-candidates-have-used-music-in-their-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"US election 2020: how the rival candidates have used music in their campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adam Behr<\/a>, Newcastle University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

A 74-year-old man dancing half-heartedly and without much rhythm to the Village People\u2019s YMCA while a host of other people complain about the playlist \u2013 it might conjure up an image of the tail end of a wedding reception. In fact, it\u2019s yet another facet of the increasingly surreal popular cultural context of the 2020 US election. YMCA has been on Donald Trump\u2019s playlist at rallies for well over a year, and the Village People<\/a> are on a long list of artists who \u2013 as in 2016 \u2013 have asked the president\u2019s campaign to stop using their music<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Various levels of denunciation and threats of legal action have come from, among others, Phil Collins<\/a>, the Rolling Stones<\/a>, Neil Young<\/a> and Queen \u2013 whose guitarist Brian May has called it an \u201cuphill battle<\/a>\u201d to get the Trump campaign to stop playing the band\u2019s 1977 hit We Are The Champions.<\/p>\n

Given all the other accusations that have been ranged against him \u2013 from sexual assault to the illegal use of military aid to pressure a foreign country into investigating his Democrat rival \u2013 Trump\u2019s skirting of copyright regulations might seem like a comparatively small matter. And indeed, there are limited provisions for artists to stop the use of their music.<\/p>\n

But there\u2019s a strong connection between, and investment in, the relationship between pop culture and electioneering in the US. The use of songs at rallies \u2013 as opposed to, for instance, television spots \u2013 is generally covered by the licenses<\/a> for performing rights collection societies ASCAP and BMI, with packages of songs available for use that number into the millions.<\/p>\n

Artists can withdraw their material from these packages, and the Stones have done so<\/a>, as Rihanna did in 2018. Even if the broader license that applies to the venues themselves might still pertain, it\u2019s fraught territory that is being explored in greater depth now than previously due to the obduracy of the Trump campaign.<\/p>\n

Other options include recourse to a \u201cright of publicity<\/a>\u201d, which refers to an artist\u2019s personal brand, like a trademark, and could potentially allow for legal action if this were seen to be degraded by a particular use of their music without permission. While there\u2019s a long history of artists objecting to their music being used by politicians, it has become a torrent around Trump<\/a>. Normally a \u201ccease-and-desist\u201d letter suffices \u2013 and plenty have been sent \u2013 but the president, or his campaign team, seem unconcerned with such niceties.<\/p>\n

Joe Biden has enjoyed a rather more cooperative relationship with the musical world. Bruce Springsteen has long made a habit of appearing on the stump for Democrat candidates. This time around he has also authorised the use of his song My Hometown<\/a> for a Biden ad, which the singer also narrates, centred on Scranton, Pennsylvania where the candidate grew up.<\/p>\n