by Joe Bennett | Oct 4, 2021 | fm, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
As you might imagine, most of the work of a forensic musicologist takes place behind necessarily closed doors due to commercial sensitivities. Once in a while a project I’m working on makes it to a courtroom, and if the media writes about it, my involvement is... 
by Will Bennett | Sep 22, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
[JB note: I’m pleased to welcome my friend and colleague Will Bennett as a guest blogger. Will (no relation) is a PhD musicology researcher at Harvard, and also a valued member of the JBMS consultancy team. I asked him a couple of weeks ago what he thought of... ![Have you been hearing Bohemian Rhapsody ‘wrong’ all these years? [answer: probably]](https://joebennett.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Screen-Shot-2021-07-24-at-11.49.50-AM-1080x402.png)
by Joe Bennett | Jul 24, 2021 | Forensic Musicology, musicology, Popular Music, Research, Songwriting
You know that feeling when a song's intro seems to trip up your ear, so that when the band comes in it sounds like the timing's out? There are a few rock classics that play with our rhythmic ears in this way. When I first heard Led Zeppelin's Rock And Roll I thought... 
by admin | Jun 4, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
The case against Childish Gambino is the latest in a run of copyright claims Article + interview with Joe Bennett. Words: Tom Wainwright. Originally published in The Economist, 15 May 2021. “You motherfuckers owe me!” raps Donald Glover, better known as... 
by Joe Bennett | May 22, 2021 | berklee, Eurovision, Forensic Musicology, music production, musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting
[update: the next day] So, the predictions were mostly reasonably close, although I missed Switzerland completely. Italy won (I predicted 4th), I got France right at 2nd place, and Iceland came 4th (predicted as 3rd). My predicted winner (Malta) actually came in at... by Joe Bennett | May 22, 2021 | berklee, Eurovision, Popular Music, Songwriting
[looking for the live-blog and song commentary?] It’s Eurovision-eve! Yes, the live musicology blog is back after it, and the contest itself, has been absent for a year. We didn’t waste time though: Netflix asked us to analyse all 259 finalists 2010-2019... ![Did Childish Gambino plagiarize in “This Is America”? [answer: no]](https://joebennett.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/This-is-America-CI-865x505-1.jpg)
by Joe Bennett | May 19, 2021 | Copyright, Forensic Musicology, musicology, Plagiarism, Popular Music, Songwriting
Betteridge’s law famously states that “Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no”. And so, in the spirit of good blogging and the avoidance of cheap clickbait, I have answered my own question in the title of this post.... 
by Joe Bennett | Jun 30, 2020 | Eurovision, Popular Music, Songwriting
Regular readers will know that I have been live-blogging the Eurovision Song Contest final since 2011. Every year I sit down in front of the TV, metronome and guitar in hand, and write live musical analysis of the songs in real time, then attempt to predict the winner... 
by Joe Bennett | Jan 23, 2020 | musicology, Songwriting
Article and interview by Frank Ward O’Malley (1875-1932)Originally published in ‘The American Magazine’, Volume 90, October 1920Transcribed by Joe Bennett from the Google Books version, January 2020 Irving Berlin c.1920 JB comment: This semester, I’m very pleased to... 
by Joe Bennett | Aug 20, 2019 | musicology, Popular Music, Songwriting, tidal
[JB note: This article was originally commissioned by TIDAL, and is part of a series – see links below. Parental advisory: adult themes in the lyrics.] Ariana Grande – 7 rings Mabel – Don’t Call Me Up Billie Eilish – Bad Guy Taylor Swift... 
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