Coldplay Accused Of Plagiarism By Cat Stevens

people.com:

British rocker Chris Martin is under fire again, this time over claims that his band Coldplay has plagiarized another musician's work.

Yusuf Islam, better known as '70s' rocker Cat Stevens, claims his song "Foreigner Suite" is behind the band's recent hit, "Viva La Vida," reports Britain's Sun.

Read the whole story: people.com

Comments

[Infostream]

Want to hear what all the fuss is about?
http://theopenend.com/2009/01/31/coldplay-vs-joe-satriani-who-owns-the-descending-melody/

I should say what all this nonsense is about. It's just a basic progression, nothing anyone can claim a copyright on. The biggest actual ripoff is this guy Santarini ripping off Jefferson Airplane's "Heart". I'm not a huge fan of Coldplay, but I am a huge fan of the producer Brian Eno. One thing he does with pop bands is strip them down to basics, so it's easy to hear similarities to other songs. What makes the song is the way the basics are rendered, with Eno that is where the originality comes in, and when you compare to the other songs supposedly plagiarized they are all in a completely unoriginal standard genre/instrumentation.

[HelloooCanada]

and this just in, coldplay is being sued by electric mayhem, the muppets rock band, for stealing their wardrobe from a tour bus...

[jimisolo]

LMAO!

[zorak1704]

Oh great, the local radio stations will call for the burning of Cat Stevens records again.

[woundedduck]

Yo, Coldplay, lose those Sgt. Peppers jackets.

[stagebandman]

There's a centuries old saying, "Good composers borrow, great composers steal".

[Mulvaney]

Somehow, Coldplay will make it through all of this. After all, we live in an age when even the 1910 Fruitgum Company can revive itself and perform.

But think of all the Coldplay songs going through the radio waves right now. I find that the best thing to do in order to make sure that one of them does not bounce against a tooth filling and set off Coldplay's music in my ear is to wear a tin foil hat. Unfortunately, its hard to find tin foil these days. Its mostly that aluminum stuff that does not work.

[MrGiggles]

Chris Martin a thief ??!!??

Well, then, I refuse to watch another Gweneth Paltrow movie.

[Furby]

That's too easy. You don't watch her anyway :)

[PenelopeS]

When did Satriani record his song (which I had never heard so I can believe Chris Martin hadn't either), however I'm sure Chris Martin grew up listening to Cat Stevens - he was always more popular in the UK/Europe than in the US. If Satriani's record came out after Foreigner Suite, then he plagiarized Cat too.

There is a quote on Entertainment Weekly. They spoke to Cat and when they asked him if he was going to sue Coldplay he said "depends on how well Satriani does" - which sounds tongue-in-cheek to me.

[Redbull6]

Cold WHO???? Oh, Cold PLAY, I remember now, THEY SUCK!
Howintheheck they ever became popular is beyond me.
Cat (Yusef) is right, they couldn't write their names let alone a good song ;-)

[learntofly]

It's all about the stripes on their pastel jackets.

[NedroidPrime]

All these comments, and nothing about how the record companies shoved this group down our throats with everything that they had...

Yet another example why these companies should go under...

[timregler]

Can't we just charge them with sucking and be done with it?

[poster1122]

Yes. It's called not buying their music and turning the station when they come on. But like it or not, they have a following and so they're around.

[Madmac]

I wonder if all the postings here is because they hate Coldplay like I dislike most of the garbage that passes as "New Music" or is it that they think that Coldplay plagiarized music.

[biglith]

Most of Cat Steven's songs are based on standard pop chord progressions. Every pop song is based on the work of artist's who came before them.

[raaf]

Coldplay are nothing but a bunch of talentless hacks. In five years nobody will even remember them.

[Solaris123]

Most likely. But Do you actually have anything to say on the subject of the thread? Not likely.

[jlab]

There is really nothing more painful than a musician who takes himself too seriously. Unfortunately, that applies to both sides of this conflict. Music without a sense of irony is always pathetic. Even Leonard Cohen or Nick Cave seem to wink at us through their gravitas. Lesser artists, such as Martin or Stevens demand more respect than they are willing to give others.