More and more performers are playing it safe when it comes to songwriting, in light of the recent multimillion lawsuit between Robin Thicke, Pharrell Williams and the Marvin Gaye estate. The most recent example is Miguel, who gave Billy Corgan of the Smashing Pumpkins a songwriting credit on his track "leaves" after realizing that the down-tempo ballad's guitar riff was reminiscent of "1979."
He told the Associated Press that he, a Smashing Pumpkins fan of sorts, made the realization and then made the call.
"We're all standing on the shoulders of giants," he said. "There's nothing that hasn't been done ... there's going to be moments where you do things that are reminiscent of other things. And even if you're not aware of them, I think it's just best out of respect to reach out."
He's not the first performer to be on edge following the "Blurred Lines" verdict. Sam Smith was also in the news this year after his team reached out to Tom Petty after realizing that "Stay With Me" was structurally similar to the latter's hit "I Won't Back Down." That resulted in a 25 percent songwriting credit to be shared between Petty and his coauthor on the track, Electric Light Orchestra's Jeff Lynne.
Twenty-five percent of royalties might seem like an awful lot, but it's not too bad at all when compared to the rulings made when these things go to court. "Blurred Lines" was decided to sound similar enough to Gaye's "Got To Give It Up" that Thicke and Williams were hit with $7.4 million in damages, as well as being forced to split future royalties 50 percent with the Gaye estate. Settling early is settling better.
Miguel didn't reveal the percentage of songwriting credit that Corgan will receive.
The performer was correct however...it's becoming increasingly difficult to write a new song without accidentally borrowing something from another party. Another recent example (that hasn't seen a courtroom) was when Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo realized after years that the riff to his "Undone (The Sweater Song)" was almost identical to Metallica's "Welcome Home (Sanitarium)."
