Ana Castela is accused of plagiarism, but what is plagiarism in a pop universe where everything seems to have been heard before?

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With songs produced on an industrial line to supply the market, composers no longer have a clear signature that differentiates them in the history of Brazilian music. ♪ OPINION – The most listened to artist in Brazil throughout 2023, according to the ranking of the country’s main audio platform, Ana Castela ends the year with a headache. The artist is being accused of plagiarism by composer Luan Kaique Vieira Castelan, known artistically as Luan Kastelan. In reality, Kastelan is suing not only Ana Castela, but all eight composers of the song Single forced (2023). A composition released by the singer on the audiovisual album Boiadeira Internacional (2023), Solteiro forced is a song credited to Ana Castela, Raphael Soares, Rodolfo Alessi, Mateus Félix, Vinicius Poeta, Léo Souzza and Benicio Neto. Kastelan sees a similarity between the melodies of Single forced and Side right side of the bed (2020), a ballad he composed in partnership with Dant and which he released three years ago. “The song scores were compared and we saw similarities. The lyrics are completely different, but the melodic line is similar. Luan’s song was registered in December 2019”, details Luan Castelan’s lawyer, Ricardo Bockorny. Strictly speaking, only musicologists and experts on the subject will be able to attest, in court, whether there are indeed melodic similarities between the two songs to the point of plagiarism. The question to be raised, outside the judicial sphere, is what the concept of plagiarism is in a pop universe where everything seems to have been heard before. Currently, the songs – the vast majority – already sound like déjà vu as soon as they are released. Brazilian musical production in the 2020s is increasingly being framed along an industrial line governed by successful formulas and recipes. This generic production mainly supplies the country universe and mainstream genres, such as funk, forró and pagode. In times gone by, one could easily recognize a composer’s DNA when listening to a song. There is a clear signature in the songbooks of Chico Buarque, Milton Nascimento, Djavan, Joyce Moreno, Adriana Calcanhotto, Vanessa da Mata… to name just six names who built works outside the formula. Today, truly original composers are rare. We can mention Tim Bernardes, Marília Mendonça (1995 – 2021) and a few other names as exceptions to the rule. And the imperative rule in the market is to make music for immediate consumption, with the same language, with similar beats and sounds. It is obvious that none of this takes away Luan Kastelan’s reason if a real similarity between the melody of the ballad On the Right Side of the Bed and that of Solteiro forced is proven in court. Plagiarism is plagiarism and deserves to be punished if done conscientiously. But it is worth remembering that, in the pop universe, the old maxim of presenter José Abelardo Barbosa de Medeiros 1917 – 1988), Chacrinha, who declared that “nothing is created, everything is copied”, seems to be increasingly valid. The copy, in this case, is the result of formulas used exhaustively. In any case, may justice always be served in any accusation of plagiarism!

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