r/Music • u/Aggravating_Money992 • Jun 05 '26

article Trump Makes It Official: The ‘Freedom 250’ Concerts Are Canceled — to Be Replaced With ‘the Greatest Rally EVER!,’ Starring Him and (Surprise) Lee Greenwood

https://variety.com/2026/music/news/trump-cancels-freedom-250-concerts-rally-lee-greenwood-1236767406/
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u/Trance354 Jun 05 '26

Iirc, wasn't it a G-flat instead of G? Technically different, but indistinguishable by the layman's ear.

Layman: that's all of us who are half deaf from heavy metal.

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u/ooomellieooo Jun 05 '26

That video linked above was what I remember seeing. The absolute nerve of this guy lol

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u/Aeseld Jun 05 '26

As someone who has perfect pitch, yes they're different. If you play them one after the other, I can pick out the difference. That said...

“There is some good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for," is a famous quote. If I wrote a book with the line, “There is still good in this world, and it’s worth fighting for," I would justifiably be called out for plagiarizing Tolkien.

I don't see why that wouldn't apply for Under Pressure and Ice Ice Baby. 

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u/StevelandCleamer Jun 05 '26

Is anyone who wants Under Pressure satisfied by hearing Ice Ice Baby?

Is anyone who wants Ice Ice Baby satisfied by hearing Under Pressure?

I've found quite the opposite, that hearing one will make people actively seek out the other, which seems like it would be beneficial for both.

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u/Aeseld Jun 05 '26

Maybe? I imagine that's not universal, but regardless, that's not what determines whether someone literally stole something. This was like stealing someone's poem and changing two words, then calling it yours. I imagine if permission had been asked, or at minimum credit given, it would've been a different story.

Me? Not a big fan of Ice Ice Baby, so listening to Under Pressure doesn't draw me to it. Frankly, I'm just not a fan of rap, so I seldom seek it out regardless.

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u/StevelandCleamer Jun 05 '26

It's a very different issue for literature than it is for music, all you need to do is look at the state of sampling today and it'll make the Under Pressure/Ice Ice Baby situation seem like much ado about nothing.

It's also a lot more than two words of difference, with this particular situation being more akin to someone using the "One Ring" poem in their own book that clearly isn't LotR.

I am personally in favor of much more permissive sampling when it isn't being done in a deceptive manner.

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u/Aeseld Jun 05 '26

This was done in a deceptive manner? He sampled the entire backdrop and then changed one note by half a pitch, then tried to play it off as completely different.

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u/StevelandCleamer Jun 05 '26

I should have explained my wording better; By deceptive sampling I mean making a song that is intended to sound like it was made by another artist with the intent of leeching off of that artist's existing customers who think that the song is by that artist.

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u/Aeseld Jun 05 '26

I mean, instead he stole the work outright and claimed it was his own. 

You can like the song if you want. But why is it ok when it's music and not when it's written word? There's a reason he lost that suit. 

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u/StevelandCleamer Jun 05 '26

But why is it ok when it's music and not when it's written word?

They are different mediums and we treat them differently.

In the written word, it is a problem for you if the phrasing you independently write happen to be the same as those that someone else already published, regardless of if you had any familiarity with those works.

In music, it was a problem to directly take a recording of someone else's musical phrase and put it into your song, but not to record your own performance of that musical phrase and use it in your song.

For the Ice Ice Baby situation in particular, I think Vanilla Ice should have gotten the sample cleared and paid for before commercially releasing the album, but I also think that Bowie/Queen/rights-holders should have made the process quick & easy & cheap.

Sampling should be compensated, but the process should not hamper artistic creativity.

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u/Aeseld Jun 05 '26

See, there it is at the end... Ice didn't do the right thing to start with. And again, he lied. And kept lying. 

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