Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

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NealF
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Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by NealF »

As composers we sometimes write things that are close or exactly like something we've heard before. Unconsciously, of course.

I know Sound Hound will recognize tracks, but I think it recognizes the wave form, not the melody. Not sure about that, though.

What I'd like is an app that you can sing or play into and have it turn up anything that's close to what you've sung. This way you can check to see if you're unwittingly stealing something.

Anybody know of such a thing?
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by Tritonemusic »

I've never tried the specific feature, but SoundHound does claim to let you sing or hum a melody into it. Really don't know how well it does that job. I use it on my phone to identify things I hear on the radio, and it does that very well.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by frankf »

How many times I've heard a melody or snippet of one in a film or TV background that pops out as something I wrote 10 years ago. And from where did I get my unique and original idea?


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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by Tritonemusic »

I tried singing "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" (I have no idea why that was the first song that came to mind) into SoundHound, and it worked! I didn't sing the lyrics. Just the notes of the melody.

P.S. I can't sing worth a shi!t.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by NealF »

I tried singing a new melody I wrote into Sound Hound. It didn't recognize it. But it is possible to write something that's very close to some hit from the past without realizing it.
If it's just a few notes off I don't think Sound Hound would be able to detect that.

It probably would take a different kind of app that has a database of melodies and a way to come up with close matches. Don't think SH can do that.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by Prime Mover »

I'd choose not to. I think it would just fuel this unnecessary concern about originality that has never been realistic since the dawn of composition. I can't remember any historical incidents where someone unknowingly plagiarized a tune and was sued for it, maybe there is an odd case here and there and I just don't know about it, but I think you're more likely to get hit by lightening. And if not legal reasons, then pride? This is what most of composition is. Like it or not, a huge part of composition is standing on the shoulders of other influences. I heard one lecturer say over 90%, I don't know how you can come up with a number, but I do believe it's substantial. That isn't new and maybe it never should be. I already believe that composers and producers end up tying themselves up in ethical concerns when our basic focus should simply be to make good music. Maybe a melody isn't entirely original, but I bet anything that the arrangement will be, and it won't be exact. So at the end of the day, it's a worthwhile addition to our collective artistry.

I've suspected for some time now that a news theme I wrote about 6 years ago was largely influenced by a theme from an obscure video game I played when I was a kid. I have no intention of going back and checking. Yes, it gnaws at me from time to time, but so do my self doubts brought on by social anxiety and minor depression, and it's about as relevant.

If you're deliberately copying without making an effort to modify it, only then should you spend the energy on worrying. Otherwise, it's my personal opinion that we should just let creativity take it's course, subconscious (or even semi-conscious) copying and all.

I'll even share a little secret. On occasion I even know when I'm copying. Usually they're very small things, a motif here and there, I realize where it's from. I use to worry about it, but I've decided not to anymore. If it's the best thing for the overall work, and it's not some extremely major part, then I think it's pretty normal. A full unchanged melody or major section? Not a chance.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by bayswater »

Prime Mover wrote:I can't remember any historical incidents where someone unknowingly plagiarized a tune and was sued for it,
Wikipedia article on musical plagiarism lists 22 successful suits, 9 unsuccessful, and 17 unsettled allegations. I doubt these were all intentional.
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billf
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by billf »

Prime Mover wrote:I can't remember any historical incidents where someone unknowingly plagiarized a tune and was sued for it
George Harrison?
Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music finally went to the United States district court on 23 February 1976, to hear evidence on the allegation of plagiarism. Harrison attended the proceedings in New York, with a guitar, and each side called musical experts to supports its argument. As author Dominic Pedler notes, both of the songs have a three-syllable title refrain ("My sweet Lord", "He's so fine") followed by a 5-3-2 descent of the major scale in the tonic key (E major for "My Sweet Lord" and G major for "He's So Fine"); respective tempos are similar: 121 and 145 beats per minute. In the respective B sections ("I really want to see you" and "I dunno how I'm gonna do it"), there is a similar ascent through 5-6-8, but the Chiffons distinctively retain the G tonic for four bars and, on the repeat of the motif, uniquely go to an A-note 9th embellishment over the first syllable of "gonna". Harrison, on the other hand, introduces the more complex harmony of a relative minor (C#m), as well as the fundamental and distinctly original slide-guitar motif. After reconvening in September 1976, the court found that Harrison had "subconsciously" copied the earlier tune, since he admitted to having been aware of the Chiffons' recording.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My_Sweet_Lord
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by NealF »

Prime Mover, you make some good points.

I'm not really worried. I'd just like to know if I'm too close to something. It's easy to make a little change and be able to avoid some snide criticism. Wouldn't be something I'd get crazy about, just think it might be helpful in certain occasions.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by mikehalloran »

I heard one lecturer say over 90%, Its a known fact that 93.77% of all such statistics are made up.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by crduval »

This reminds me that a year or two ago I stumbled across some YouTube clips of a regional band that I loved when I was in college. I clicked on a few videos, really enjoying hearing these tunes that I had since forgotten about when suddenly I realized that one of them had a verse section that was uncomfortably close to a song that I had written and performed regularly with my own band 15 years ago! It wasn't the same but it was close (the first two verse chords were exactly the same chords, inversions, tempo and even the arrangement was virtually identical); close enough make me think that I must have subconsciously copied it. It freaked me out a little and I began seriously questioning my originality. I now of no other case where I had done anything like that but it was a very unsettling feeling.

It wasn't a practical problem since that song never went anywhere, but still...

They were both great tunes though![SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH]


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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by mhschmieder »

Good topic. I'm always nervous about this, and send things to a few select people (including on this forum) to find out if I subconsciously stole another song. Great to hear that there are at least some things to consider in terms of new technology to help us find out if we're "at risk".
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by NealF »

I agree.

I'm no programmer but I think it would be a big seller to have something that could show you if you're close to something already published. With Sound Hound I'm pretty sure you'd have to sing it exactly. So if a couple of notes were different it probably wouldn't show up as a match to anything.
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by bongo_x »

NealF
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Re: Is there an App to let you know if you've stolen a song?

Post by NealF »

Wow. Great video! Thanks.
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