I can’t hear the similarity Ed Sheeran/Marvin Gaye

[ChangedNameAgain99]

BBC News Article

BBC News

and a link from YouTube

well I can but is that really by conscious copying?

I'm not a musician, but I know both songs well and have never picked up on it.

Whereas I can always tell immediately if a new song is sampling an old song in some way etc.

I guess maybe there are technical, musical similarities (but as I say, I'm not a musician so wouldn't pick up on them). But the overall effect is two different songs.

is a good side by side comparison video.

It sounds similar when broken down like this but there are only so many chord progressions in the world...

But the person/company suing will, if they win. I hope they lose and end up with a huge bill on top!

I think Ed has an uncanny knack of making songs that do sound similar to other ones. Whenever I hear a new one of his it reminds me of something else I've heard prior & I feel like I know it.

Sheeran's music is very bland and middle of the road.

In that video clip, Ed’s instrumental track when played beside Marvin’s sounds very basic…

I love both artists.
One sounds quintessentially Marvin Gaye, the other sounds quintessentially Ed Sheehan.
Pared back, without the vocals, they share a certain very basic similarity - but I would be willing to bet you could get that if you ran the same experiment, with any number of different compositions going back over the years…
What is really sounds like to me is CF corporate greed & hand rubbing lawyers.

I hear similarities with it and the Robin Thicke song.

Gosh, Marvin Gaye was good!

The first time I ever heard “thinking out loud” I thought it was a rip off of Marvin Gaye

its the baseline that is the same

the similarity is striking

I agree, I can’t believe he has to stand trial as they don’t sound similar at all!

Yes, because white musicians stealing from black musicians should be fine and dandy with everyone

I think people have realised that Sheetan does this a lot and have tapped into it.
there was also the case with ‘photograph’ and the Matt Cardle song. They really were very alike on the chorus.
incidentally this is called unconscious plagiarism and is still not allowed. George Harrison had to pay out a lot of money to the writers of ‘he’s so fine’ because it influenced ‘my sweet Lord’

Marvin Gaye’s family won against Pharrell Williams didn’t they? I think they are very good at this and I think strip away some of the layers and those songs did sound very similar tempo wise. If I were ES I’d be expecting to pay out.

I’ve followed Ed for years and as with Adele his arrogance has grown but one thing that strikes me is his originality. As a PP said perhaps it’s unconscious.

maybe it’s time for Ed to just take a break.

FFS what has it got to do with race?! Not that I think, in this case, the song has been stolen but surely it’s never ok to plagiarise if you’re black, white or bloody rainbow coloured?

Always loved Marvin and his music. He was amazing. Yes, I remember the "My Sweet Lord" case, it devastated George Harrison. Can't think anyone would knowingly copy a song.

that wasn't a vague similarity tho 🤔

Ed Sheeran got famous by ripping off the music of Nizlopi, who were an absolute joy to listen to and it makes me sad that he made millions and they did not, so I may be a bit biased.

There's an element that is similar but not enough to claim plagiarism imo.

For me especially on his more poppy tracks it's the synthesiser type beat and monotone rap he does.

He is so prolific his stuff to me feel's churned out for the sake of it.

However I hear he is a lovely bloke in real life and horses for courses ... just not my thing.

I did like the one with the Ed puppet though, Sing I think? Reminds me of the muppet show

It's the same drum beat isn't it. But as far as having 'all the same elements' is concerned, isn't that what all music does, take different melodies, harmonies, beats, chords etc and rearranges them into a plethora of different sounds, thus making a song?

I've never really taken much notice of Ed Sheeran before (I mean I sing and dance along to his tunes in the car but that's about it) until we took our son to one of his concerts in the summer. I think he's a talented man. And my positive view of him improved even more when a friend sent me this:

My friend's husband (also a good friend) was a talented musician before he died last year, and would have loved this.

It's clear to see that Ed's musical preferences are influenced by the greatest musicians. And that's as it should be.

I like both Ed Sheeran and Marvin Gaye (was raised on a diet of Tamla and Northern Soul).

The backing track is definitely similar to 'Let's Get It On' but i don't think people can surely lay claim to every beat, rhythm that's ever been used. Loads of songs sound quite similar within a genre.

All you have to do is listen to the “4 chord song” to see how easy it is for one song to sound like another. It doesn’t make it plagiarism.

The Marvin gaye lot are ferocious, I also agree blurred lines didn't sound like a rip off