Here's How Maroon 5's Adam Levine Feels About Accusations Olivia Copied Songs
Where's the compassion?
Adam Levine has ~thoughts~ on the Olivia Rodrigo X Paramore X Taylor Swift copyright infringement saga. After three months of facing criticism from fans for the similar qualities between her song “Good 4 u” and Paramore’s “Misery Business,” Rodrigo gave the band’s songwriters credit on the track. The credits for “Good 4 u” now include Paramore’s Hayley Williams and Josh Farro, and some fans are still deliberating whether Rodrigo was really obligated to give them credit. Fans also felt another song on her record, “1 step forward, 3 steps back,” sounded a lot like Taylor Swift’s “New Year’s Day,” so they sensed a pattern in Rodrigo’s work. Many music industry power players have joined the conversation, and it’s become a popular Twitter topic to deliberate. Now, the Maroon 5 frontman has shared his two cents and made some valid points. Adam Levine addressed the Olivia Rodrigo song copying accusations with a voice of reason.
Rodrigo’s debut album Sour arrived on May 21, and was full of bops like “drivers license,” “deja vu,” and of course, “good 4 u.” The latter of the three singles was compared endlessly to Paramore’s 2007 hit, but Levine seems to think things got blown out of proportion.
While Levine didn’t take a hard stance on whether he believes Rodrigo should have had to add Swift, Williams, and Farro to her songwriting credits, Levine addressed the backlash she’s faced on Instagram. Levine acknowledged that while the songs may sound somewhat similar, she doesn’t deserve all the flack she’s received because similarities in songs are an unavoidable part of making music.
“It’s a natural thing for it to happen, and sometimes it gets ugly and sometimes it’s warranted that people take legal action,” he said on his IG Story on Aug. 27. “Sometimes it’s not warranted that people take legal action. And I think there’s definitely become more of a gray area that’s reared its ugly head these days.”
Levine took a much more compassionate stance on the situation than most. “Without giving an opinion on what I think as far as how that one turned out, I do think that we should probably meet this with a little more compassion and understanding and try to find a way,” the rocker said. “All this calling out, it’s like, music is a creative thing and I just hate to see it crushed.”
You can see Levine speak out about the situation below.
After the release of “good 4 u” fans made mashups of the song and Paramore’s throwback hit on social media. The comparison videos went viral and hundreds of tweets were posted comparing the songs as well. Ultimately on Aug. 24, Williams and Farro were added to the credits as songwriters, and their publisher, Warner Chappell, praised the move on Instagram.
It wasn’t the first implication she copied another artist Rodrigo had seen. In June, Courtney Love shaded the singer for releasing album artwork that was strikingly similar to her album cover for Live Through This. “Spot the difference! #twinning!” the singer wrote when sharing a side-by-side of both album covers. She later called Rodrigo rude for not asking permission before releasing the similar artwork. In an industry that tends to take notes from preceding generations, there’s a fine line between inspiration and imitation.
