6 Ed Sheeran Songs That 'Rip Off' Other Artists
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 07. 2024
- Subscribe to Slightlykilld on CZcams: • Slightlykilld - Don't ... Slightlykilld on Spotify: open.spotify.com/artist/1k7FQ...
📌NOTE: In this video, I feel like I went too heavy with the "Plagiarism" aspect of some of these examples. Particularly with "Shape of You" Vs. "No Scrubs" I think it was unfair of me to call that plagiarism as I believe it may actually be the case that Sheeran went about that lifting in the same way as a typical sample, i.e. obtaining permission and paying royalties. I also feel like I went a bit too heavy and sensationalist on some of the other examples, including "Amazing" vs. "Photograph". I'm not saying that copyright infringement didn't occur, but myself dubbing it "plagiarism" may have been too exetreme.
When you think of pop song lawsuits, Ed Sheeran is one of the first songwriters to come to mind. He has been tangled up in various legal disputes over the apparent plagiarism in many of his songs.
Sheeran singing "Let's Get It On": • Video
Shape of You interview (2017): • Ed Sheeran's 'Shape of...
Photograph lawsuit: www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article...
Sami Switch lawsuit: www.smoothradio.com/artists/e...
Marvin Gaye lawsuit: www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-4...
Jasmine Rae lawsuit: www.digitalmusicnews.com/2018...
An extra special thanks goes to Vidad Flowers, Austin Russell, Christopher Ryan, Bruce Mount, Toot & Paul Peijzel, the channel’s Patreon saints! 😇
Outro music: "Running Man" by David Bennett ( • 'Running Man' 🎹 Jazz-F... )
SUPPORT ME ON PATREON: / davidbennettpiano
0:00 Introduction
0:35 Photograph VS Amazing
1:30 Thinking Out Loud VS Let's Get It On
4:10 Shape Of You VS No Scrubs
5:00 Shape Of You VS Sami Switch
5:25 Strip That Down VS It Wasn't Me
6:13 The Rest Of Our Life VS When I Found You
8:10 Don't VS Don't Mess With My Man
❗ EXTRA DISCUSSION: I've seen a few comments saying that some of the examples in the video aren't plagiarism because Sheeran credited the original writers. I agree with this. In the video I'm not meaning to suggest that all six of the examples are out right plagiarism. My aim was to examine six occasions when Sheeran has been accused of "ripping off" other songs. Sorry though if it came across as unfair or overly-sensationalist 👨🦰
Nah it didn't seem that way, was just trying to make sure everyone watching didn't think you were hating on him, I know that can get people pretty riled up! Excellent video as always 💛
here are similar songs that are similar to others that I discovered myself, here is the link, Look at the comments that are more than 50 czcams.com/channels/gAf69j_Nwba1pFp6wLbdMA.htmldiscussion?view_as=subscriber
can you do miracle aligner from last shadow puppets (why it sounds so oriental)?
"Rip off" is slang for plagiarize. You can't use either term without implying plagiarism. "Accusing" someone of ripping off of someone else is accusing them of plagiarism.
Well, you just seem like you're searching for reasons to hate.
Shaggy: You’ve clearly plagiarised my song Ed Sheeran: It wasn’t me
Very good! xD
the songwriters were always credited, that's why an extra 11 writers since shaggy's song had sampled another song
😂🤣 Brilliant!
That "It wasn't me" was copped from "Eddie Murphy Raw".
That’s actually really good! I only understood when I got to that part as well😂
Is this a David Bennett Piano video that doesn't mention The Beatles? I'm shocked
😂
I guess I could have mentioned Ed Sheeran's appearance in that 'Yesterday' film!
@@DavidBennettPiano what did you think of that movie I'm curious
@@DavidBennettPiano 😂
@@DavidBennettPiano .
In 1983 my music teacher said “there is no such thing as a new tune, now”. At that point I should have become a music publishing lawyer.
Or a guy called Allen Klein... (Rolling stones Vs The Verve) etc, he liked to screw a lot of people.
Someone clearly needs to do this!
Make sense
But instead you chose to smoke weed well into your 40s..
@@kooldude2ful never touch the shit🥰, it’s for weak characters
The chorus of thinking out loud (the “maybe we found love right where we are” bit) is basically the chorus of Van Morrison’s Crazy Love note for note and chord for chord.
Ed Sheeran said he was inspired by Van Morrison for the song, and Van said he loved it when they met up years ago.
Ya Ed himself said Van Morrison was one of his favorite artists growing up.
Kind if hard to write ANYTHING absolutely original anymore.. since music has been recorded and or passed down for centuries now... still love Ed's music. Always will.
@@mgray7927 Exactly, the only part of the melody that is similar(not even identical) is that "Love love love.." part. The chords and rhythm is very similar but like this video said, that isn't plagiarism. They are also not in the same key. so yeah, thinking out loud's chorus isn't "basically" Van morrison's Crazy love note for note and chord for chord.
i would never had expected to see you here my friend
it helps if you're an artist backed by a multi million budget corporation, with lawyers out the wazoo.
more like Ed hearin' other peoples music
😂
PlagiarisEd Sheeran
Ed Sharin' melodies
Ed is a blatant crook..shame on him..one thing I am careful about is being original otherwise what is the point?
It's funny that in the movie Yesterday he played himself and the protagonist (that is not sheeran) was a "plagiaritst"...
that guy that copies your homework and gets a better mark than you do
I like Ed Sheehan a lot, however, your comment made me giggle. Thanks!
My mate was one of those
somehow it always works
I disagree
So he surely copied on purpose a lot of songs rythym but having his own ideas for his songs, i mean if you think it that is really cool because that shows how much does he love the music
In 2008 Ed Sheeran wrote a song called "Autumn Leaves". The chorus melody..... float/down .....hush/now.....miles/away..... follows the same structure as Photograph's keep/me...ripped/jeans..... eyes/meet. In the Shape of You trial, the judge noted that the melody of "Photograph" simply followed the very basic chord progression in an obvious way. He also noted the pick up notes in each were different.
He indicated if it were for him to decide he would take into account other songs using the same basic melody.
Amazing wasn't released until 2011. Is it really "obvious plagiarism" or did Cardle actually copy Sheeran??
Also the Shape of You trial revealed that because it was time to release the song and clearance was still pending, Sheeran actually REMOVED the melodic bit from "No Scrubs" that was an interpolation and the reference "TLC on the Jukebox" so TLC receives a decent chunk of royalties from Shape of You even though there is absolutely nothing TLC created in the song!
And "When I Found You" copied Ed's song "Even My Dad Does Sometimes" that was released a year before it. There is a good reason they didn't receive credit.
Finally someone who does their research before making up opinions!
I did not know this, thankyou
My takeaway after hearing all these samples is simply that Ed Sheeran’s melodies are super generic and not unique. It’s the uncanny feeling of having heard it all before, but it also translates to mass success because it’s the kind of music you can like after one listen, and that’s how a lot of people judge music.
6:35 And that, kids, is how you get a song with 15 songwriting credits.
...that also sounds like it was made by a committee.
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 by "committee" you know you mean "three songwriters" right?
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 a satanic occult more like
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 General rule I've found is, if it takes more than a couple of writers to make a song, unless it's some incredibly complex and clever piece (not just a by the numbers I IV V VI type pop song) then something is amiss. And in this case that holds true because Sheeran writes some of the most dull, trite pop music I've ever heard, and gets way too much credit for knowing how to use looping in his live shows, which really isn't that difficult. 😁
Envy much?
I've never seen a band sponsor a CZcams vid. Probably the one video sponsor I've actually gone to check out so maybe not a bad plan haha
Thanks! Slightlykilld are great! 🙂
Yeah! I've actually thought about doing that myself to help get my music heard... cool to see someone who has actually done it, haha.
I don’t expect they’ll be collaborating with Ed Sheeran anytime soon, though! Lol
I honestly think the human mind is incredible. We can listen to something and not realize that we listened to it and years later our subconsious will dream up a song that sounds incredible, but unbeknownst to us it was clearly influenced by something else. That's what happens to me sometimes. I hear songs all the time thinking "that part right there sounds exactly like this other song."
Exactly!
It's literally his job and the industry he works in day in, day out. It isn't an excuse to not do due diligence. If I handed in a report at work entirely based off of what a colleague had come up with I wouldn't be able to just go "oooopsie" and then cash my bonus. Well I mean I could but can you imagine the backlash.
@@jhart1127 Its kinda hard to just look up a melody on the internet
Great comment, Leroy!
OK Ed
"Right Here Waiting for You" by Richard Marx coincidentally had the same melody AND words as the first two phrases in a song I wrote back in the 80s. So I came up with it first but he couldn't have heard it since it's only ever made it to cassette. It was so similar, friends were calling me excited that I had finally got some air play.
It's odd when the exact same inspiration hits two people at once isn't it? I had a song like that too, in the 90s, which was similar to a 3 Colours Red song called "This Is My Time", though in fairness their version was way better than mine.
Richard Marx co-wrote 'Dance with my father' ..... same piano intro?
Holy shit, really? That’s the only good song Marx ever wrote… and damn it’s a good song.
unless an even great melody has exactly the right words and phrasing, one example will soar on gossamer wings while the other will struggle to get off the ground. . . they won't be the same at all
I wonder, if you uploaded your song so we could hear it, if YT's bot would take it down for copyright infringement of the Marx song lol.
In first example idea of both songs obviously inspired by "No surprises"
I've always thought I recognised the Photograph chorus from somewhere!
Radiohead?
@@ossianns Yes
Add the bridge of Damien Rice’s “The Blower’s Daughter” to this list
I don't get it.. Isn't "No surprises" based on a I to iv (1maj to 4min) arpeggio ?
Imagine suing a guy for using the same chord progression. I’m a musician, and this happens everywhere all the time lol 😂
So many old blues pieces have same chord progression and melody, yet are different. Similar with early rock n roll. Yet nobody sued each other, and that helped to develop whole genres of music.
... because when a bluesman steals something (a wife, a song) from another bluesman they just go and write a sad blues song about that... :D no lawsuits, just a saaaaad, saaad song... ;)
Pretty ironic that he was in Yesterday where the main character is passing off (the Beatles) music as his own.
Oh, I am so unoriginal, I was about to say the same thing!!! Ed Sheeran is a real world Jack Malik!
Lee Sharra I watched it a few weeks ago so it’s still fresh in my mind.
@@leesharra1413 nah he just take some lines and make completely new songs, and share royalties as well. It's still way better than sampling old hits and pretend that you are a songwriter. The only real plagiarism is with that piano song but Sheeran is a guitar player... unlike the piano-playing producer that co-wrote this song and obviously "composed" that melody.
P.S. You would be surprised how much pop, rock and metal hits were "rip-off" from classical music.
Except the Beatles don't exist in the alternate universe, so it doesn't matter.
it's no coincidence people wake up
In acoustic guitar every pop song
Chord progression basic : G Em D C
You can play 1000 trendy pop songs with those chords .
Yep. Another is C G Am F. (Or G D Em C. I V Vi IV)
Whenever I’ve heard Ed Sheeran’s music it always sounds nostalgic, like I’ve heard it before. Sometimes it’s obvious and other times I can’t place it. Yet, I hear this a lot in the music of today at least in the pop chart world. I don’t intentionally listen to it, it’s unavoidable at points. I remember hearing Blurred Lines in passing and presuming it was a 70s tune that I couldn’t place only to later find out it was brand new. Anyway, todays music is fantastic if you know where to find it and where not to look.
Damn is this why I Love All Ed Sheeran songs🤔🤔🤔because I already love these songs😳🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️
They must be using a software that produces variations on existing melodies
This is one reason I've always been bored by Ed Sheeran's music. He sounds derivative to me. I'm no musician but I've got ears.
Today's music is fantastic! You really think that? Music was fantastic in the 60s 70s 80s and 90s.
We do not copyright flavors, colors, or scents. We should not copyright sound. Only words should be copyrighted.
I burst out laughing when he said they plagiarised from Shaggy.
Zoiks!
Why ?
@@samylemzaoui2298 cause he(Shaggy) himself samples a lot of songs
It's hardly stolen when Shaggy's song was already credited for the interpolation before the song was released plus its not Ed's song but sung by Liam Payne ft Quavo. Steve Mac is the same co-writer/producer for 3 of the songs David mentioned here. Shaggy's song sampled another song in the first place, that why 11 extra co-writers were added to Strip That Down :)
@@manasprabhanshdeepsingh4712 No more like bothering to plagiarise and choosing Shaggy. If you are going to plagiarise, pick the best.
I'm not really surprised when similar melodies show up in these songs. The songs are often 4 chords and there are certain notes that sound good with certain chords in general. I reckon that similarities are pretty inevitable.
Similarities are okay but it depends on how similar. It's not an issue if rhythms are similar, but it becomes a copyright issue when melodies and lyrics are too similar. They actually count how much similarity there is and judge based on that. You can have some amount of similarity but there's a threshold. Also if he wants to use songs that have already been done, he can use a song from an artist who has been dead for more than 70 years. That's legal. Otherwise it isn't.
Yeah ok this is pretty obvious ... you just don’t know or feel music that way
@@sahanaiyengar5132 Yes, but imagine we would analyze all the music that has been released, not just famous songs.There would be a lawsuit every second.
Ah yes, very similar melodies of other people's who just happen to be darker skinned (mostly) or women. nothing to see here...move along.
The Indian Raag system relies on the fact that music is only so finite in it's ability to be unique, and you rely on a framework or raag for the sequence and progression of notes, both ascending and descending, and a taal, which defines the beat. Most raag and taal are already created and categorised. You are able to mix them effectively to create more unique pieces, but you can almost always determine which raag and taal is being used during a phase of music.
Yeah indian music is really beautiful❤
Fascinating video David, thank you. I'd like to add that the chorus of "Shape Of You" is almost identical to the main tune of the Beatles "From Me To You"
What pisses me off is there are sooo many talented, and original artists who write, and perform their own music and get absolutely no credit
If the sample is credited, there is no problem. Everyone is allowed to do it so it's not unfair. Sheeran writes songs that are more appealing to the public than the very talented unknown musicians of the world, so he gets to be more popular. Pop music is not about who is the best writer, but about who is capable of making the most popular music
It’s irrelevant if their talented and if they are original. If the song isn’t good nobody will be interested
@@samylemzaoui2298 actually it's about the producers, lyric-writers, music writers, session instrumentalists, and a tried and tested formula. drop all that and sheeran is just another busker lol.
@@natemonroe2559 well he was a busker before the fame. What helped him get famous are all the things you mentioned.
@@supesulgi He was famous in Britain before he signed the record deal. Not as famous as he is now, but had sold-out shows and had his last self-produced album on the second place in itunes british top charts. That's why label "picked" him up in the first place.
If you are going to “rip-off” anything musically steal from the masters. There are NO copyrighted Mozart pieces and he played all the notes. 😉😅👍🏻
Its hard, because melody kind of has a fashion, the type of melodies that was made 500 years ago sounds corny today in a new context
i've already tried
and Bach!!!
Some of mozart’s melodies fit over the simple chord loops common in today’s pop music. But Mozart tended to write melodies intended to be developed and to interact with other melodies throughout the duration of a piece which doesn’t happen so much in pop music these days. If one used a Mozart melody for a pop song it might feel like something was missing. Give it a try any let me know how it goes.
Samuel Brown, great point! The term ‘variations on a theme’ immediately comes to mind. One could take a well developed mid score melody and exercise a subtractive process and then re-embellish to personal taste while preserving elements of the motif. Conversation of this type always remind me of emperor Franz Josef‘s critique one of Mozart’s commissioned concertos (if I remember correctly) in the movie, ‘Amadeus’ “Too many notes” he says whilst insecurely looking for validity from his Kappellmeister and others whom “think they $hit marble”.😅👍🏻
You don't think Marvin Gaye is one of the masters? Also if you work in the industry of Pop and RnB, people are obviously more likely to take influence from the masters of those genres. Difficult to interpolate eine kleine nachtmusik into a slow jam.
In fact, in the old days you'd need more than a few notes to be accused of plagiarism. My father used to say 4 measures are OK but no more so I agree with your extra discussion. If 4 notes could belong to so and so we couldn't write songs anymore.
There is another song I think Ed was heavily inspired by. It was a song the BBC used for a recent winter olympics from a few years ago, unfortunately I don't know who it was by. It was a good song often used in the snowboarding roundup segment and had a kind of chorus of several guys. That summer Ed had a hit with a song that immediately reminded me of the snowboard song. I'd love to find it again.
Generic pop songs sound like other generic pop songs. *shocked Pikachu face*
Ha! We need a “shocked pikachu” emoji
David Bennett Piano 😲
In what way are Marvin Gaye and Shaggy generic lol?
Marvin Gaye, generic? Shaggy was not generic. No Scrubs was not a generic melody.
@@jusjoshandthemic yeah Shaggy was not generic, he just put his lyrics above sampled music that he did not wrote.
You can recycle your influences but being a rip-off is sth else
There's only so many chords and melodies you can come up with when trying to write generic pop songs.
This aged well
Ed Sheeran? more like Ed Sharin' these royalty cheques
Cough cough
He's a ginger toss
The part about strip that down and shaggy was very interesting about how the part sampled in shaggy's song was credited in strip that down even though it wasn't in there 😂
Shaggy's song was credited for Strip that down but shaggy sampled another song, so that's why 11 extra writers were credited overall. Liam Payne sings the song, not Ed.
Very similar to the Verve's Bittersweet Symphony, the music they sampled illegally, and ended up giving every cent they made to the Rolling Stones' publisher , never appeared on any Stones record. It was a sample from an album of classical song versions of Stones' tunes and has nothing in common with the original Stones' song.
@@lesboothe7291 well they credited all the writers for shaggys song and the song he sampled, that's why there were 14-15 writers all together. David Bennnet is just recycling some old stories about stuff that was credited or acknowledged at the time
I'd be interested, what do you make of composer Sir Karl Jenkins's music? I'd reccomend listening to as much as you can
How much does it cost to get that sponsor slot?
Another amazing video man! Basically Ed Sheeran is the “You can copy my homework but make sure you change it up a bit” meme personified 😂
You must be some super succesfull musician..
You might be ever wrote like 300 songs
@@GokiGandalf Shut up. That’s why the way he leaps off of rooftops and flips backwards to face the camera before falling into a head first dive is just full of the exaggerated swagger of a black teen. It gives me goosebumps everytime he does it.
@@GokiGandalf lmao
Ed Sheeran’s “Perfect” also samples a similar melody and theme to Eric Clapton’s song “Wonderful Tonight”.
The lyrics might be in lawsuit territory, but I doubt the theme would be as well. I haven't tried comparing the two yet though.
he's mentioned that already in his "why do so many songs choruses end with 'tonight'?" iirc
That's interesting. I always thought that "Perfect" was exactly like the Italian hit song from the '80's "Ti Amo" made famous by Umberto Tozzi...
@@applehack97 It's to give a conclusion to all those that begin with "woke up this morning" 😂
always thought that its pretty similar to it
I don’t think he’s a plagiariser. He credits writers when he borrows their work. Why would he do it sometimes and not others?
Plagiarism is a strong word, it implies conscious thievery if someone else’s work, and an intention to conceal this.
I only use the word plagiarism here when I think it applies, for example, with Photograph VS Amazing.
@@DavidBennettPiano it’s awfully strong word though, has legal ramifications too.
It’s the implied intent that comes with the word.
Do you think he deliberately copied that song and concealed it? Plagiarism implies a covert act, it implies he’s a thief basically.
@@paulshuttleworth6261 copyright infringement doesn’t actually have to involve intent, for example see the George Harrison VS One Fine Day case.
@@DavidBennettPiano for the sake of argument, is copyright infringement the same as plagiarism? Can you plagiarise accidentally? There is such a thing in academic research, but I don’t know if it’s music too. I suspect “accidental plagiarism” in academic research, is to de-power it, and not accuse someone directly.
But the word has a power that implies intent that doesn’t seem to have the same weight as copyright infringement, which feels less judgemental.
I don’t know, just my thoughts 🤷♂️
Recently, a very famous Korean pop song composer Yoo Hee Yeol has been embroiled in plagiarism controversies. Somehow I am reminded of this video of yours, because Korean netizens have been digging up all his songs and comparing a few seconds of them with other older songs (like those composed by Sakamoto Ryuichi) that "just sound similar". When two songs have similar chord progressions or backing instrumentals, where do we really draw the line? I felt this so-called controversy has been blowing out of proportion in south korea and I'm a bit sad that there's nobody neutral out there to analyze the situation, so I'm just wondering if audiences here would be interested in taking a look at it.
The thing about most of these songs are the generic chords and progression like in most pop music but pop music is also pop music because of its catchy and these chord progressions stick
True, specially the chord progression of C, G, Am and F. You'll find them anywhere, literally
@@mrvegetables2934 yeah, that same progression but maybe transposed to a different key
These days it's nearly impossible making a truly unique song
So if someone writes a song, what should they do to make sure that none of their melodies have been written before? Some simple melodies might occur to different people at different places, times, genres.. etc? Plagarism software for songs?
Ed "Rip-off" Sheeran
Still keep on showing this video to people especially in reference to the ongoing case about shape of you. Also noticed in Shape of You the mmmh - is so similar to a key part of No Digitty - something he clearly is aware of as he's mentioning this song in his court case. Would love a video investigating that song in more detail, shape of you feels like a scrap book of previous music to me.
And the thing is he's a big pop star, if you are a small indie artist no one will care. But when you are a pop star, well, you have to know what will coome to you if you do a plagiarism.
And you'll get sued for looser "violations" Hip-hop used samples for ages but once Ice Ice Baby went multi-platinum, suddenly it was an issue. The more money you make, the more people are gonna come looking for it.
I'm sure Ed Sheeran does know that. He can pretty easily afford to pay people out of court or give them royalty credits, he's a multi-millionaire
isnt that works both ways ?
if youre an indie artist no one will care and people will start to say youre dumb and envy if a multi million big star plagiarize your song
Could you do a video fully explaining STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER - THE BEATLES?
I would really love that as well
I'll add it to the list 👍👍
@@DavidBennettPiano Thank you 🙏🙏🙏😄
There's a pretty comprehensive explanation of how this song was created in the Beatles Anthology videos.
The way George Martin put this song together is one if his greatest achievements.
The Beatles chipped in a bit too.
Noel Gallagher did it for years, ADMITTIDELY! It's fine to be inspired, it's fine to borrow chords. It's impossible not to be influenced my melody's. That Marvin Gaye one is a farce, photograph, not so much.
James bay did the same with Hold Back The river after hearing John Wheatley 'all of this' play in concert. He was there that night. Look it up. It's legit. If John had had any money or power there's no doubt it would have been a suit, but maybe he didn't mind? Was his idea at the end of the day, just didn't receive the credit. John wasn't in this for the money, just the love of music. But there's the catch 22 again? We all think we're original but theres only 12 notes repeated in octives. You can argue theres a billion combinations but how many are actually listenable. You see rap music follow trends drop the same song a million times but no one is sued. Why? Because most of them belong to the same label. Same lyrics, same flow, same drums, slightly different beat. Anyway. I'm not an ed nut rider just a defender of song writing. We'd all be lost without the art.
Ed “No one will ever notice” Sheeran
I think the Elephant in the room is at 9:11 where you bring up the fact that if he continues to, "Borrow" from other artists for his, "own" songs and generates enough cash to pay off the original artists, he can keep doing this for the next 15 years or so.
🤔Facts 😁
And there was me thinking he was a modern day musical genius..Has he Chinese ancestry?
@@andybarry5315 No, white
It's all about the money. I think all Copyright lawsuits should be arbitrated by professional musicians. That would eliminate the need for lawyers piling on to fill their pockets with other peoples money!
How about just giving credit to whom its due and avoiding all of the lawsuits.
@@loriannrichardson7644if you have never heard a song before, and end up writing something similar, is it your fault that you don’t credit someone that you didn’t know about? Music, especially pop music, is not as diverse as everyone thinks. There are building blocks everyone uses. Calling it plagiarism is disingenuous
From the first time I heard Overpass Graffiti, released after this video, all I hear is Boys of Summer by Don Henley. With critics recognising it employing a "80s vibe" i'd be interested to know if the think the resemblance of the chorus and the stylistic difference to other singles he released from that album make the similarity seem too much of a coincidence?
Ed Sheeran has to be the luckiest sod in music. Everything I've heard him sing sounds very close to older hits. I just hate the way he has this hipster with a guitar/genuine songwriter image carefully crafted. For me, he's the epitome of how music stopped being brave and experimental and became an industry controlled thing to compete with PlayStations and smartphones. Still, he's the millionaire and I'm trying to pay the rent. What do I know!
@Hicky Hicky So you don't think music has become corporate controlled and less original? He's not wrong and saying so doesn't make him bitter. It means he has a music sensibility that discriminates between what is good and what isn't. But if you think music is just fine, just as good as it's always been, then you will have some negative shit to say about my comment too. Oh well.
@Hicky Hicky it's easier to see the mainstream back then had more memorable hits that are timeless and people still enjoy them to this day. Nowadays, it's just boring music on mainstream made to attract audience because they somehow accept this type of music. Yeah, music today is not as good but some people can argue and that's alright
@Hicky Hicky * humour to Toot
Fixed that for you!
His music is beautiful.
You are an idiot if you think that. Pop music is just 4 chords with different permutations. Whatever he plays, you'll say that it was an old hit. Also you question his song writing capabilities? He's maybe the only one in pop industry that write their own song. Any artist who doesn't have a pretty face isn't surviving in today's pop world, he is, because he's talented, and that's why he's a millionaire and you struggle to pay rent.
It's not plagiarism when he credits the songwriters, plagiarism is passing it off as your own work.
@Eric 23 Actually he's only had a few ones actually end up as court cases, a majority of them he credits them and automatically attributes the loyalties as needed. His big one is Photograph, which he still says he had no idea of the original song but was happy to settle and give the X-factor guy royalties. Then the Tim McGraw one is the other one that actually went to court. The rest, they're credited as writers before the songs even released; because that's how you should do it
@@Clarkey7163 yeah I agree with you, I think Eric may not be the biggest fan of old Eddy boy and is trying to make a scene :(
@@spongebabe27 no, he addressed this at the end.
well, he credits them after they take him to court, is more like "agh.., alright...here I'll give you some credits"
Even if you credit the source, its still plagiarism unless you paraphrase the work or put quotations around the piece you are taking. Not sure how it works in the music world but thats how it is in academia.
Usually, I have a negative feeling towards sponsored episodes. Although with sponsoring by bands, I am actually quite pleased to discover new music while David Bennett gets a check. Everybody wins!
Thanks! Obviously in an ideal world I wouldn’t need sponsors. But having bands and musicians sponsor me is a great compromise! 🙂
@@DavidBennettPiano indeed. Thank you for having taken the consequences for us viewers into account!
Yeah same
A man completely devoid of the genuine creative spark.
Yeah…apparently so. Bummer.
Oh someone is bitter 😂
@@faegibb4043 Bitter? Is criticism of Ed Sheeran forbidden and/or immoral?
It’s quite alarming 😂😂
@@CMJames You got that right, bud
Trouble is this David Bennet is just assuming a lot stuff and didn't fact check everything, some might just sound alike but not actually copyright infringement because the elements are public domain etc, and also some of those songs were credited . like Don't mess with my man was credited as inspiration years ago, and Strip that down was credited 11 extra songwriters were credited when the song was released and was mentioned in a music mag at the time, had listed it the most songwriters for song in 2017 because it sampled Shaggy's It Wasn't Me which itself sampled another song. it was also acknowledged in court today that with the TLC No Scrubs song, that the negotiations had started before shape of you was released but not finalised until afterwards, so never tried to hide the fact of the interpolation. Kandi Burrus from TLC also stated that fact in 2018, that both teams had been in contact before the song was released. actually a few of those songs mentioned in the video has the same co-writers and producers, and Ed didn't write /produce the part of the song they think sounded alike
The piece over the credits this video has a bit of a Charlie Brown vibe.
Thanks! That’s my tune “Running Man”
David Bennett Piano lovely tune! It does reminds the work of Vince Guaraldi, but in a good way, greetings from Chile, i love your channel
Ed Sheeran is just the Noel Gallagher of his day both rip off other artists.
I always heard people singing Thinking out loud in South African Idols, etc... But I never heard Ed Sheeran's song until driving with my brother one day and he was playing the song, and while the song was playing, I immediately sang 'Let's get it on' while the Ed Sheeran song was playing, and I mentioned it to my brother, that damn, I wonder if this song was leggally sampled or stolen, and low and behold, a few years later and I started reading about the Marvin Gay estate sueing him.
Sheeran seems pretty dedicated to keeping integrity. I beleive as in a union you have to at this point pick and choose what battles to fight. As the lines will progressively cross the more music that is created.
*0:43** you can't copyright a chord progression.period*
You're right. Too bad Ed ripped of the melody.
yeah but Ed Sheeran is just some hack that rips off music with lazy song writing from day one
That's true.
Unless someone has recorded it before.
Chords don't belong to anyone.
Records.... ohh yes they do.
@@pianoboi4842 it's not the lyrics or melody though or could have been settled back in 2016 when first sued for it, the drum,bass, piano were done in production by producer.. plus the chord progression and common time drum beat has been done in other songs before LGIO from that the judge had stated
@@laureanoahmad7495 No. Pop wouldn't exist if it were the case.
I'm only starting to write music and its hard to write anything that sounds good but doesn't sound like anything that came before it
I've found the more I think about music theory the less effective I am at writing anything original. I tend to rely on spur-of-the-moment inspiration nowadays. Clear your mind of any preconception of what sounds good, or what you should be writing, and just go with primitive instinct.
I can relate
@@AbbeyRoadkill1 I know this might sound a bit stupid before I say it, but I think knowing too much theory can actually inhibit your creativity.
People get hyper-focused on the theory. It isn't that knowing TOO much theory can inhibit your creativity. That'll only happen if you let it happen. After writing music and learning music theory for a couple of years, I have found that it is best to use theory as a tool rather than a set of rules. You don't HAVE to stick to the "rules" of music theory. Sometimes it's just best to go with your ear. Also, I'm not saying that a extremely technical (in terms of theory) piece of music can't be creative. It is simply paramount to know your own perfect balance.
Yeah, what I try to do is look at something and think "let's try mess around with that" and I play then try to write what I've written down after. Theory is just a theory, not an exact science. So like certain theories like the many worlds theory and multiverses it can be used for other scientific ideas or be used in media like marvel and dc comics and also Rick and Morty.
The fact people’s really think that all of his songs are copied is surprising because how tf are you gonna make 100% original songs every time
Id love to see this guy explain how "Men at Work" got done over for "Down under". I reckon different judges/jurys in different parts of the world woukd easily come up with different verdicts on the same evidence. How many singers/songwriters would have melodies jingling around in their head (in the Men at Work case, a childs nursery rhyme....) that could inspire a similar tune?
Ed Sheeran is a factual plagiarist.
I've never seen or heard anyone said that but Ed Sheeran has plagiarised with his song "Sing" that he took and tweaked from "Miss you" by the Rolling Stones.
You change the tempo and of course with a more modern arrangement and you've got "Sing".
This guy is a shame.
There's a difference, a real difference, between inspiration and plagiarism...
actually it was in the song credits years ago as an inspiration, and you forget about the producer of that song, plus Ed was opening act for The rolling Stones a year after 'Sing' and are friends of his. :)
chord progression and melody: exists
ed sheeran: *it's free real estate*
Nah, he's just a squatter 😜
@@HeadbangoO He doesn't look like a slav to me
Ed Sheeran has been doing this for years. He crafted his skills when he wasn't famous. Look for his accoustic sessions where he does mash ups of various songs, including rap songs. He's very clever at what he does
I've always found Happier and Stay With Me to be similar. I even arranged a mashup, it worked out seamlessly.
Deaf much?
I wish I could write a song that gets sampled and then gets sampled again so that I can get royalties.
Don’t think anyone has said this one yet, but “Barcelona”’s guitar is basically a simplified version of the guitar from “Neon” by John Mayer.
Didn’t John help him write it?
Didn't notice this😂 but they pretty good friends so I don't think John minds
Pino, the bass player for John Mayer Trio plays bass for Barcelona
@@hassanmasood1010 John plays guitar solo for Ed's song How Would You Feel (Paean) Pino from John Mayer Trio, plays bass for Barcelona
The thing is that no music in this day and age can be described as "original". Going back a few years The song "Surfing USA" by The Beach Boys was a direct copy of Chuck Berry's "Sweet Little Sixteen". All the royalties and credits were given to Berry.
It's odd that the original artists are able to write original songs, but when Sheeran copies them, such that they sound so similar to the original, music is suddenly finite🙄
Learned guitar because I wanted to be like John Frusciante and I’ve ended becoming like Ed shreean
Not that different, play a little bit faster and you're there.
Ed Sheeran should hire a lawyer and pay them a full-time salary. He'd probably save a lot of money in the long run.
Wouldn’t you think he already has one on retainer? He certainly has the money.
All major record labels have lawyers on retainer for their artists for this exact reason.
surely his record label deducted the cost of a legal team from his contract and they're all making absurd amounts of money.
That's basically how the Marvin gaye foundation operates.
Whatever you think about the songs content, blurred lines was absolutely mugged by them.
Ed Sheeran has a whole team of full-time lawyers.
Following the _Oh Why_ case outcome, Sheeran said he thinks settling out of court for _Photograph_ was the wrong thing to do. Not according to your analysis (which I agree with).
> You plagiarised my song! You climbed up the scale just like me, used the word "oh" and a second word repeatedly. This is the height of creativity!
He must have gotten the idea to rip off other people when he was in the alternative universe of the movie YESTERDAY.
He must have got the idea to rip off other people from someone else.
EclecticSceptic Clever!
That movie released in 2019 though, he was ripping off well before then
lol
@@nickdryad Haha
somehow watching these kinds of videos just makes me feel that sampling / lifting off portions of existing songs are perfectly fine, but to do it correctly and honorably is to admit you did it and correctly credit the people involved.
actually, i would like to ask a question, is there a difference in laws over this "plagiarizing", specifically in the korean industry (kpop)? im asking this because of so many recorded incidents of BIG KPOP ARTISTS "sampling" portions of other songs but not doing the proper crediting, yet not once have they been sued over such issues.
It depends on who they're sampling and where they're from. If they're sampling music from someone in a country with the same kind of intellectual property laws as the US or the UK, then they could theoretically be sued. It just depends on whether people can be bothered going to all the effort and expense of a lawsuit tbh
I think you're talking about the SM songs right? Those are bought and deals with western musicians and labels as far as i know but some kpop companies straight up rip off without buying the license or credit.
I wouldn't be able to tell half of these were copied even after hearing them here. Some people get way too intense with their copyright.
I'm a songwriter. And all be it some of Ed Sheerans song's are indeed suspicious, I have to say I have written songs over the years that not until sometime later even years in some cases I realise that my song shares the same chords and or structure of another song which are usually songs from my favourite artists that I would have listened to and played on my guitar countless times. The two songs sound nothing like one another, but if broken down and scrutinized can be easily comparable. My opinion is that, people do blatantly copie other folks songs but others are unavoidably coincidental. There is no piece of music anymore that can be completely original because it's already been done by someone else.
I heard a story, don't know how true it is, but the gist of it is; The Beatles were in the studio and during an extended lunch-break went to the cinema, anyway for one reason or another only three of them went back to the studio and started working on a brand new song they just started picking-out, anyway about two hours later, the other Beatle came back from wherever he was and enquired why they were playing the theme song of an ice-cream advert they'd heard earlier in the cinema. They all looked at each other and realised they'd been re-writing the ice-cream advert they'd heard earlier....LOL.... Lennon is supposed to have said "well that's probably why it sounded so catchy"..... LOL
In light of this video, do we consider it a coincidence that Ed Sheeran is the artist they used as the one to take Jack under his wing in the movie "Yesterday," a movie about a guy who becomes a superstar by plagiarizing the Beatles?
It's good to see Sheeran can make fun of himself atleast, he probably realizes his songs aren't very good nor original
@MemeLordSupreme I think that says more about this generation than the quality of his music
@@leob4403 A team and Castle on the hill are fucking amazing songs, I'm not the biggest Ed Sheeran fan but he has a lot of talent and produces some really high quality stuff.
I can only imagine what it’s like to hear a blatant rip off of your own song for the first time.
Feels shite
OK... I play lots of Ed's songs at weddings. I love what he does but every time I play Perfect, I am reminded of an old song called Amazing Grace which I think was done by Judy Collins back in the 1970s. Intentional or not, who knows but it doesn't detract from the fact that Perfect is the most frequently requested song at weddings. I love its emotional content, its lyrics and the Irish, folky feel of the music.
As you say, all artists plagiarise to a degree - Bach, Beethoven and all the other greats did it.
I say give Ed a break.
I don't understand why in a video about plagiarism the vast majority of the examples are cases where the original writers were credited
I've just pinned a comment about this as you're not the only one to comment on this. Really, I'm not saying that every example is plagiarism. In the video my aim was to examine six occasions when Sheeran has been accused of "ripping off" other songs. It seems that to some though that my arguments came across as overly-sensational and unfair.
Ed Sheeran's "Thinking Out Loud" is basically where Eric Clapton's "Tears In Heaven" and Shakira's "Underneath Your Clothes" overlap in a Venn diagram.
"Underneath Your Clothes" is rip off by the way.
@@faaaduma6876 From what?
"Underneath your clothes" is very similar to "Eternal Flame" by The Bangles
@@b-ryemendez8335 Christ alive, get a grip. I love both those songs and no they are not similar enough to be called plagiarised.
Fast forward two years and a jury decided the two signs are completely different
Finally figured out that the chorus of Perfect is a plagairism of Lift Every Voice and Sing. It's been bugging me for years!
I’m a music teacher as well so I’ve had to teach a ton of Ed’s songs and he’s probably the most unimaginative songwriter I’ve ever heard. Every song is predictable melodies over generic chord progressions.
That is there for a reason called: earworm.
When I worked in one famous studio, we would work for weeks on just one melody, trying to simplify it as much as we can so people can remember it more easily. And I'm not talking just about lead melody, but vocal melody also.
And the point is not to be amazed by the song, but for the song to enter the subconscious and start to play in your head later during the day.
Nick Chase why are you telling this to a music teacher? Music earworms aren’t even something unheard of it’s pretty common knowledge that pop songwriters like to write catchy songs.
I guess the key aim of music teaching is developing taste and creativity and appreciation for the extraordinary. Why teach anyone Ed's songs? They're the most obvious crap ever produced by a human.
Nick Chase who doesn’t know what an earworm is? All the term means is that the melody is catchy. That doesn’t mean that it has to be simple, generic or plagiarized.
I hear he has pieces of paper with I, IV, V, and VI written on them, and he throws them in the air to find out which chord progression he is going to use.
Hey Dude, soon on a Ed Sheeran LP
This guy made a whole career out of rehashing old RnB songs. I like Lego House and it seems that was when his original songwriting peaked
Thank you for your amazing video! The research and the details should earn you a Pulitzer Prize
I am constantly baffled by how NOBODY seems to be talking about how similar Happier - Ed Sheeran and Stay With Me - Sam Smith are! Especially considering Sheeran has previously covered Stay With Me on BBCR1 Live Lounge.
Sam Smith was already sued for Stay With Me, plus you cant copyright protect chord progressions
How About Ray Parker Jr.'s Song "The Ghostbusters Theme" He Stole the riff of Huey Luwis and the News' Song "I Want A New Drug". The Story has it That the Writers from "The Ghostbustuers Theme" Wanted to hire Huey Luwis to write "The Ghostbusters Theme" BUT he had other Obligations, So Later on They hire Ray Parker Jr. to write "The Ghostbusters Theme" instead and Ray told them he want a Huey Luwis style Riff, SO HE CAME UP WITH "The Ghostbusters Theme".
The Bar-Kays’ Soul Finger gets cited as a source for Parker’s Ghostbusters as well. Aykroyd and Belushi covered it as the Blues Brothers.
He also tried to say he wrote Galway girl when he met his girl... (There is already a song called that and he stole part of that song) and messed up because the girl was not even from Galway...
Thanks for explaining that. I listened to Maevin and then Ed and figured yep. Same slng. I'm not out to judge but for my own understanding... So to hear your explaination and comparison to colours as building blocks has helped with that.... 👍😎
I agree with parts of this video, there are definitely similarities in songs taken from other artists but some of the similarities, are just pure money grabs. Music if finite and has a limited combination of elements. Chord sequences are not copyrightable and it is actually a joke how corporations make up these lawsuits. Let music be music and don’t ruin this amazing art.
While I agree with your sentiment, I wouldn't say Sheeran's work qualifies as amazing art. It's the pop music equivalent of paint by numbers, pretty run of the mill.
@@naominegata5752 well duh, we are talking about something subjective. it doesnt matter if you think it is or it isnt, it matters that you are arrogant enough to think your subjective is of more value than anyone else.
Excellent piece of music investigation, David. You certainly put a fair amount of work into these videos. Keep it up.
Thanks Hugh!
Playing devil's advocate: Using tbe same chord progression is pretty standard in music and has been since it's birth. No-one can claim ownership of chords or the sequence they're played in. Musically, there's a very good reason chords are played in a given and specific progression. Mind you, when the melody, lyric, cadence and rhythm etc are similar when played in that progression, then that's an entirely different matter. I'd argue that no-one has ever come up with a wholly original chord progression. It's not like the possibilities are infinite. I really can't stand Ed Sheeran's music, so I have absolutely no axe to grind. Some of the evidence here is quite compelling...or damning!
Isn’t this a monkeys with typewriters type of situation? There’s so much music that has been produced at this point, it’s impossible to create a melody without it sounding similar to something else that has come before.