Another rally, another unauthorized use of an artist’s music by the Trump campaign. This time around, it’s ABBA claiming that the Trump campaign did not have the Swedish group’s permission to play their music at a Minnesota rally.
Trump leaned especially hard on ABBA’s music during the July 27 rally in St. Cloud, Minnesota, the state with the highest Swedish population. In addition to playing songs like “Dancing Queen,” “Money, Money, Money,” and “The Winner Takes It All,” the rally also screened ABBA video footage, again, without permission.
Word of Trump’s ABBA usage eventually spread across social media and the Atlantic to Sweden, where the group’s Björn Ulvaeus told a local newswire that ABBA’s record company Universal Music would “make sure it is taken down.”
On Thursday, Universal Music issued a statement seeking to prevent further use of ABBA’s music by the Trump campaign.
“Together with the members of ABBA, we have discovered that videos have been released where ABBA’s music/videos has been used at Trump events, and we have therefore requested that such use be immediately taken down and removed,” the label said (via BBC), adding that Universal “had not received any request” from the campaign, “so no permission or license has been given to Trump.”
In ABBA terms, Trump’s unauthorized use of music has long been his “Waterloo”: Just this month, Celine Dion asked him to stop playing “My Heart Will Go On,” and the Isaac Hayes estate is demanding $3 million over the continued usage of “Hold On, I’m Coming” at rallies.
Trump has received similar complaints in the past for using songs by Tom Petty, Rihanna, the Rolling Stones, the Village People, John Fogerty, Aerosmith, Linkin Park, and Journey, and just added Foo Fighters and Beyonce to his hit list this past week.
