Tragically Hip: Venue hosting Poilievre has music licence

The Tragically Hip have responded to an online controversy over the use of their music, saying that the venue which recently hosted Conservative leader Pierre Poulevre has a music license and did not need “special permissions” to play one of the band’s songs.

The latest development comes after a Twitter user asked the band on Saturday if he knew if Poilievre had used the band’s music at an event in the Stoney Creek community of Hamilton, Ont.

Group on Monday made a statement on Twitter “It is (and always has been) our expectation that brands, political parties or public figures who wish to use our music for campaigning will first obtain our approval. the details were unclear.

“It has now been confirmed that Saturday’s event took place at a venue licensed by SOCAN, which means the venue pays a fee to ensure artists and musicians are properly compensated when music is played at the venue.

“As such, no special permits were required in this case. We did not have full details in our previous posts and now consider this matter resolved.”

SOCAN or: Canadian Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers licenses businesses and organizations to use an artist’s music for a fee, which is then provided to musicians as royalties.

Hip guitarist Paul Langlois had responded to the initial report “We certainly did not know, this is very offensive, if it is true (we will wait to make sure and possibly confirm it) and if so, it will be stopped.

Langlois on Sunday an announcement followed “I hate to have to spell this out, but here goes. We’ve always been very offended by people who don’t ask our permission to use our music for a brand, political party or public figure of any kind. It’s common courtesy to ask, and that goes for anyone and everyone.”

Musicians have criticized politicians in the past for using music without the artist’s permission.

Randy Bachman accused then-Prime Minister Stephen Harper of playing the Bachman-Turner Overdrive song “Takin’ Care of Business” in 2014. Collision later fixed it to say that the venue where the song was played is licensed by SOCAN.

Many artists have called out former US President Donald Trump in the past stop their music at his rallies, including Neil Young, who went so far as to sue 2020. Later young dropped that suit.

With files from Associated Press and Reuters