Since Twitter knows I stalk Dua Lipa they keep recommending articles on the copyright infringement suits against her. I read a few which really annoyed me for reasons I’ll explain below. But first, probably watch this:
His take is pretty close to what I’d expect to hear from a forensic musicologist that works these cases. But that is a musical argument. What annoys me a lot about this is that you absolutely cannot find a version of this “2017 song” that wasn’t either uploaded (1) six days ago or (2) to SoundCloud. Why does that matter? Because you can swap out the old audio files on SoundCloud with new ones without it affecting the views, comments, and metadata.
All of the other versions (Spotify, Apple Music, CD Baby (the label / distributor), etc.) were pulled. The SoundCloud version apparently had ~200 total listens and 0 comments before the lawsuit story dropped on March 1, which is coincidentally the same day Artikal Sound System aka A.S.S. released a new album. So either this is a publicity stunt switch-a-roo or a song that nobody has heard before. Those reporting on this story / doing drive-by analysis have not even inquired about whether the song actually exists or why we’re talking about infringement of one out of the billion shitty garage band demos that get uploaded daily and that zero people have ever listened to.
I’m not saying the HOAX angle is true or even the most likely scenario, but it’s still plausible at this point. Why did they pull it from every other source except the one that allows you to doctor the original audio file? There are a few places that claim to sell the original CD, but it’s a “special order,” and when I add to cart it says backorder so I’m skeptical whether it’s possible to actually get it.
