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Beyoncé, Foo Fighters & More: How Artist Objections to Political Song Use Are Evolving

Every four years, creators like Beyoncé and the Foo Fighters campaign to make presidential candidates stop using songs. Sometimes they have a point.

Musicians and songwriters don’t tend to agree on much, but many of them want former president Donald Trump to stop playing their music at his political rallies and campaign events. The legal answer is yes, at least for songwriters: The big two U.S. performing rights organizations (PROs), ASCAP and BMI, require political campaigns to buy special licenses, from which rightsholders can pull specific works. Tim Walz can say that Neil Young allowed him to use “Rockin’ in the Free Word” at the Democratic National Convention — an odd choice given the song’s sarcastic lyrics, but still great cred from a music icon.

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