Songwriting has been in the news as a result of the US round Ed Sheeran's Thinking Out Loud / Marvin Gaye Let's Get It On legal case. Though Sheeran eventually won the case, the nature of ownership has been brought to the forefront. What constitutes ownership? A chord progression? Absolutely not, Sting tells Music Week for its new digital cover story.
"I was kind of interested to look at the case with Ed Sheeran in New York, and no one can claim a set of chords," the former Police man says. "No one can say, ‘Oh that's my set of chords.’ I think he said, ‘Look songs fit over each other.’ They do, so I think all of this stuff is nonsense and it's hard for a jury to understand, that's the problem.
