Everyone hates Trump using their music and it’s finally costing him
It’s become a standard feature of election season: Donald Trump uses an artist’s song without permission, as he’s wildly tone-deaf about the values of the artist, the content of the lyrics, or both. The artist then tweets about it or sends a cease-and-desist letter, and then the cycle begins anew.
Trump keeps doing it in part because he’s cretinous and loves goading liberal musicians into having to explain, yet again, that no, they do not support Trump. However, he also keeps doing it because there have been little to no monetary consequences for his (mis)use of songs.
That’s why it was so pleasing to see Eddy Grant notch a win in court last week over the campaign’s unauthorized use of “Electric Avenue” in 2020. And it only took four years of legal wrangling! But it’s likely this outcome was only because this was on video rather than at a rally. Not to mention it’s probably only a path forward for musicians with deep pockets.