...but tempo too?
Coldplay Sued
- Thread starter Mistral
- Start date
I don't have my metronome out, but I don't think they're the exact same tempo, but close. It's 4/4 though. But most music is.
This video makes a pretty convincing case, but then again I despise Coldplay so maybe I'm biased.
Scout101 & I live in the same coastal era and the local rock station played both songs over lapping each other as he stated.
They matched up.
^ Yeah, i totally just posted that. 
Scout101 & I live in the same coastal era and the local rock station played both songs over lapping each other as he stated.
They matched up.
Oh ya? You and Scout live in the "same coastal era"?
Look at my sig bro.
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Scout101 & I live in the same coastal era and the local rock station played both songs over lapping each other as he stated.
They matched up.
The radio station could easily have altered the tempo to make them fit and almost certainly did, it's just a touch of a button to alter the speed without altering the pitch or vice versa these days. You'd need to compare the radio match up thing to the album cuts to determine that.
If the tempo were exactly the same that would be quite a coincidence, and it would be a coincidence because why on earth would a band precisely copy the tempo of a track if they were ripping it off? What's that going to achieve? It's not like they played along to it in the studio. If he knocked the idea off then it's more likely he heard the song and then went home and wrote a new song around the theme rather than sitting down and precisely copying it. Coldplay don't make music by numbers and that would be a completely unintuitive way of writing and I simply don't believe that somebody with Chris Martin's ability would ever write music that way, it would be utterly bizarre.
Anyway, I find it quite unlikely that a band such as Coldplay would be as stupid as to deliberately knock off a 4 year old track from somebody as high profile as Joe Satriani and then release it as their lead single from the album. It's hardly the most original melody in the world, it could very easily be a coincidence. At worst it's maybe accidental plagiarism, where you hear something and then unconciously work it into what you are writing without realising where you heard it. I can and does happen, i've done it myself, wrote a great riff, played it for days and then realise i've just written an Iron Maiden track
Of course, if it was an accident I believe Coldplay will still be liable for it.I'm actually a much bigger fan of Satch than I am of Coldplay, but I think he is way off the mark here, i'm a little embarrassed for him.
This is another retarded lawsuit simply to get one's name in the headlines by making a fuss.
I hope it just helps Coldplay sell another million albums.
I hope it just helps Coldplay sell another million albums.
A
Amaris
Guest
Scout101 & I live in the same coastal era and the local rock station played both songs over lapping each other as he stated.
They matched up.
The radio station could easily have altered the tempo to make them fit and almost certainly did, it's just a touch of a button to alter the speed without altering the pitch or vice versa these days. You'd need to compare the radio match up thing to the album cuts to determine that.
If the tempo were exactly the same that would be quite a coincidence, and it would be a coincidence because why on earth would a band precisely copy the tempo of a track if they were ripping it off? What's that going to achieve? It's not like they played along to it in the studio. If he knocked the idea off then it's more likely he heard the song and then went home and wrote a new song around the theme rather than sitting down and precisely copying it. Coldplay don't make music by numbers and that would be a completely unintuitive way of writing and I simply don't believe that somebody with Chris Martin's ability would ever write music that way, it would be utterly bizarre.
Anyway, I find it quite unlikely that a band such as Coldplay would be as stupid as to deliberately knock off a 4 year old track from somebody as high profile as Joe Satriani and then release it as their lead single from the album. It's hardly the most original melody in the world, it could very easily be a coincidence. At worst it's maybe accidental plagiarism, where you hear something and then unconciously work it into what you are writing without realising where you heard it. I can and does happen, i've done it myself, wrote a great riff, played it for days and then realise i've just written an Iron Maiden track
I'm actually a much bigger fan of Satch than I am of Coldplay, but I think he is way off the mark here, i'm a little embarrassed for him.
Bingo.
Perfect Pitch. One of the few things I have that I don't mind talking about.
Though they sound similar, they are two very separate pieces. There is enough difference between the two for Coldplay to have a chance at knocking ol' Satriani flat on his rear, because that's where he belongs for being lazy enough to throw this lawsuit into the ring. Any musician worth his salt will listen before making such a dangerous claim, and ol' Joe (as much as I like Satriani) didn't listen. The songs are close, but they're not the same. They could both have the same influence, but they're not the same. The rhythm has been synced, which in my opinion is dishonest. If you have to make them sound more like each other to make them sound more like each other, you have no case.
J.
I find the similarities pretty convincing...
Reminds me of when I took my wife to see Journey a few years ago, and the first half of the concert was basically their pre-Perry stuff that was very conceptual and progressive. Ross Vallory (Mallory?), the bassist started ripping on Rush (my favorite band) for stealing a riff from one of their songs for "Tom Sawyer"... I went back and listened to it on-line later on, and sure as hell, it was the same chord progression, timing and everything... I was crushed... But Rush is still the greatest band out there...
Reminds me of when I took my wife to see Journey a few years ago, and the first half of the concert was basically their pre-Perry stuff that was very conceptual and progressive. Ross Vallory (Mallory?), the bassist started ripping on Rush (my favorite band) for stealing a riff from one of their songs for "Tom Sawyer"... I went back and listened to it on-line later on, and sure as hell, it was the same chord progression, timing and everything... I was crushed... But Rush is still the greatest band out there...
You know, everyone in here is mentioning "chord progression" You guys have any idea of the amount of songs written with the G, C, E, Am chord progression?
It's 8am and I haven't slept much, but I could list like, 6 bands off the top of my head.
Let's see, Metallica's written 7 songs with that chord progression, Deftones, Matchbox Twenty, Megadeth, Led Zep, Pantera, Pearl Jam.
Sure they sound alike, but there's only so much that can be done with music theory, chord structure and scales. It's not the first time 2 songs have sounded similar, and it won't be last. I'm just not seeing the big deal.
It's 8am and I haven't slept much, but I could list like, 6 bands off the top of my head.
Let's see, Metallica's written 7 songs with that chord progression, Deftones, Matchbox Twenty, Megadeth, Led Zep, Pantera, Pearl Jam.
Sure they sound alike, but there's only so much that can be done with music theory, chord structure and scales. It's not the first time 2 songs have sounded similar, and it won't be last. I'm just not seeing the big deal.
I wish all music feuds were like Kanye and Colbert's. (Un)fortunately, that Twitter account wasn't actually his, but at least they'll both get sales (in Stephen's case, donations) out of this "feud."
As for this mess, I wonder why Joe didn't go after Creaky Boards? They "copied" his riff too.
I wonder if this little lawsuit will get people interested in Timbaland's antics again. He is the embodiment of plagiarism.
As for this mess, I wonder why Joe didn't go after Creaky Boards? They "copied" his riff too.
I wonder if this little lawsuit will get people interested in Timbaland's antics again. He is the embodiment of plagiarism.
The funny thing is, they aren't even the same chord progression (unless my ears are playing tricks on me): Satriani's is II V I VI, Coldplay's is IV V I VI. So you've got three chords and three melodic notes that are the same. Pretty flimsy in my opinion.
Yeah, they sound similar, but there are undoubtedly dozens of songs out there that also sound similar, and predate Satriani's piece to boot. Which isn't to say that it couldn't be plagiarism, but how it's provable without a witness that overheard the band laughing about how they ripped off Satriani I don't know.
I only watched the first little bit but I'd dispute his analysis. He reckons the Coldplay progression ends on the tonic chord; I don't. The easiest way to determin the tonic is to imagine the end of the song and what chord it "feels" like it should end on. In the Coldplay case it's pretty obvious that it feels as if it should resolve on the third of the four chords.
But anyway, will watch the rest now.
Edit: Didn't find it any more convincing. Disputes over the tonic aside (which don't really make any difference anyway), he didn't say anything that isn't clear from listening to the two. They are very similar. Trouble is there's nothing particularly unusual about them. I actually think it's not unlikely that Coldplay subconsciously plagiarised, but I don't see how it's possible to say it's provable from such a small amount of material. Then again, I know nothing about how these cases go in court.
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And of course, Harrison could have sued the bollocks off Paul Weller for the plagaritastical "Start" by The Jam. Never did, as far as I know.^ Didn't work out too well for George Harrison. Although he actually got round it by buying the rights to the song he supposedly plagiarised
Not to mention Richard Strauss ripping off Beethoven's 3rd in Metamorphosen, the bastard!
What?
What?
Yoko Ono ever sue Oasis for "Don't Look Back in Anger"?
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