David Crosby dissed Neil Young for being fine with Trump using his music
Every election year it seems like artists get mad at various politicians for using their music without permission. Predictably, Donald Trump has had a hard time getting musicians to approve of his use of their stuff, drawing the ire of REM among others, though none of that really matters in terms of actually stopping him from using it. A while back, Bernie Sanders supporter and noted liberal Neil Young objected to Trump’s use of “Keep on Rocking in the Free World,” but now it seems he’s changed his tune. According to an interview with Reuters his beef was that Trump didn’t ask him first:
Young confirmed the Trump’s campaign statement that the campaign had a license agreement with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers for the right to play the recording.
He actually got a license to use it. I mean, he said he did and I believe him. So I got nothing against him. You know, once the music goes out, everybody can use it for anything. But if the artist who made it is saying you never spoke to them, if that means something to you, you probably will stop playing it. And it meant something to Donald and he stopped.
As Neil said, he asked Donald to stop using the song and he did. While he still supports Bernie, and gave him permission to use “Keep on Rocking in the Free World,” Neil is Canadian and can’t actually vote in the U.S. election. “I vote in my own way, by making a lot of noise,” he told Reuters. “If you don’t want to listen to me, fine. If you don’t want to vote like I would, don’t. But I still have a voice.”
Meanwhile, fellow liberal and twitter troll extraordinaire (and, you know, a great musician) David Crosby took a bit of a shot at his former CSNY bandmate.
Everybody makes mistakes sometimes
There’s one https://t.co/Jl2pNxi9QE— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) May 25, 2016
All things considered, and given Crosby’s track record, this probably could have been worse. It seems he still reserves his greatest contempt for Kanye West:
@adamweiler_ as I said ..he can’t write , sing , or play At all He is an egomaniac He is dumb as a post He creates nothing Helps no one — David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) July 9, 2015
“@JADoss23: @thedavidcrosby opinion on kanye’s music, impact as an artist?”
Music ?.. He’s an idiot and a poser….has no Talent at all— David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) March 3, 2015
Kanye West is useless as tits on a bull — David Crosby (@thedavidcrosby) May 27, 2015
