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Today’s Music News: Sam Smith says Tom Petty similarities were a ‘complete coincidence’

by Staff

January 27, 2015

As we reported earlier, Sam Smith and the co-writers of Smith's hit "Stay With Me" have agreed to share songwriting royalties with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne due to strong similarities between "Stay With Me" and Petty's 1989 hit "I Won't Back Down." Smith's rep has elaborated on the settlement, telling Rolling Stone that the similarities between the two songs were "a complete coincidence," but that "all involved came to an immediate and amicable agreement."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkcZV97O3pw

Electronic music legend Edgar Froese, a keyboardist and a founding member of Tangerine Dream, has died of a pulmonary embolism at age 70. (Rolling Stone)

A new vinyl box set will celebrate the legacy of New York indie label Ork Records. Ork: Box, set for release on Record Store Day (April 18) in a limited edition of 2,000, will include 16 seven-inch records, including reissues of singles by Television (the label, founded by Television manager Terry Ork, released that seminal group's debut) and Alex Chilton as well as Feelies and Erasers songs that have never been previously released. (Pitchfork)

Is guitarist Tom DeLonge still in Blink-182 or not? The band says he quit, but DeLonge says he didn't. To illustrate the awkwardness of the situation, DeLonge shared a photo of Jay Maynard: the Minnesota computer consultant known to the world as Tron Guy. (Local Current)

As the upper Northeast braces for a severe winter storm, slews of artists have cancelled or postponed concerts. Among the postponements is a scheduled stop on Motion City Soundtrack's Commit This to Memory anniversary tour. (Billboard)

El-P has shared brief excerpts of Run the Jewels' promised cat-centric remix album Meow the Jewels, funded via a fan-created Kickstarter campaign with proceeds going to charity. The album, El-P revealed, will feature vocal contributions from celebrity cat Lil Bub. (Rolling Stone)

At the annual convention of the Music Business Association in May, the organization will present their Chairman Award to the Doobie Brothers. In a statement, the organization's chairman called the Doobies' success "astonishing." In a good way. (Billboard)

This is only tangentially music news, but the Internet is buzzing with the announcement that Disney's new live-action version of Beauty and the Beast will star Emma Watson as Belle. It's gonna be magic. (Billboard)

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