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ABBA joins the list of artists who’ve asked Trump to stop playing their music at campaign events

From across the pond, Swedish pop music group ABBA asked former President Donald Trump to stop using their music at his campaign events.
“We, together with the members of (ABBA), have discovered that videos have been released where ABBA’s music has been used at Trump’s events and have requested that such use be immediately taken down and removed,” ABBA’s record label, Universal Music, told Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet on Thursday.
According to Politico, the Trump campaign played ABBA songs “Money, Money, Money” and “The Winner Takes It All” at a Minnesota rally in July.
Universal Music said it did not receive a request from the Trump campaign, neither did it grant permission for Trump to use the music.
Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung told Fox News, “The campaign had a license to play ABBA music through our agreement with (Broadcast Music, Inc.) and (American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers).”
At another rally this month, the Trump campaign played Foo Fighters’ “My Hero” before introducing Robert F. Kennedy Jr. A spokesperson for the band told Billboard the former president’s campaign used the song without permission, and that they are taking “appropriate actions” while pledging to donate the royalties from that song to the Harris-Walz campaign.
Trump spokesperson Cheung pushed back, saying the campaign had licensed the song from Broadcast Music, Inc.’s Songview service. The band took to X, formerly known as Twitter, saying it did not allow Trump to use the song.
During this election cycle, Celine Dion said the Trump campaign wasn’t authorized to play the song “My Heart Will Go On” and Beyoncé blocked the former president from using “Freedom” in his campaign video, as The Associated Press reported. The Trump campaign has since deleted the video from social media.
The trend of musicians taking such action against Trump isn’t new. Before the 2020 election, the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Rihanna, Phil Collins, Pharrell, John Fogerty, Neil Young, Eddy Grant, Panic! at the Disco, R.E.M. and Guns N’ Roses demanded Trump to stop using their music.
Musicians aren’t always successful in stopping politicians from using their music. Typically, a campaign’s music selection is protected by a special blanket license.
“The Trump campaign has a Political Entities License which authorizes the public performance of more than 15 million musical works in BMI’s repertoire wherever campaign events occur,” BMI said in 2020, when the Rolling Stones faced a similar issue, as Variety reported.
“There is a provision, however, that allows BMI to exclude musical works from the license if a songwriter or publisher objects to its use by a campaign. BMI has received such an objection and sent a letter notifying the Trump campaign that the Rolling Stones’ works have been removed from the campaign license, and advising the campaign that any future use of these musical compositions will be in breach of its license agreement with BMI.”

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