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Avicii vs Leona Lewis Part III: unofficial cease and desist issued, musicologist consulted

It looks like the Leona Lewis / Avicii drama isn’t over yet, and we’re starting to find out a bit more about what happens next. We’ve just learned that Avicii’s camp has sent an official cease and desist letter to SyCo demanding that Leona’s track be pulled immediately. Well-established forensic musicologist Peter Oxendale was brought in to scientifically analyze the eerily similar tracks, and though we don’t have the actual statement yet, it appears to give Avicii’s camp some tangible legal footing in the matter. For what it’s worth, some quick Googling reveals that Oxendale has written over 1,800 reports for copyright issues over the years, so if nothing else, bringing in a big wig like him could help Avicii’s plight and show Syco that this is not a matter being taken lightly. Sony Music and Leona’s people have still not returned any of our requests for comment, but we’ll definitely keep you updated as we learn more.

Update: We’ve just received more on the situation, and this is not an official C&D, but rather a preliminary warning to Syco from Avicii and Ministry of Sound. We’ll have to see what comes of it, and whether the record giant will finally break its silence on the matter and come clean with its side of the story. We’ve updated the post’s headline to reflect this.

7 Comments

  1. Still not heard who was offering the track out to vocalists and record companies for them to write over – Ministry of Sound seemed to know who it was as indicated by their first press release. Was it one of their employees?

    Also be interesting to note whose vocals are on Fade Into Darkness – is it Mr Berg’s? Not seen it credited yet.

  2. That is not Avicii’s voacls on his “Fade Into Darkness” song. It is Danish singer Andes Moe. I really hope Avicii gets justice on this one. The EDM community has had his produced version of “Penguin” on tracks for months now. Although not officially release, many House artists leak songs onto the Internet that allows fans to have them before official release dates

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