MGMT have responded after the Conservative Party used one of their songs in a General Election advert.
The American indie duo hit back at the Tories after the UK’s Prime Minister posted a campaign video, sponsored and promoted by the party, to his X/Twitter and Facebook accounts featuring a slowed-down, unauthorised version of their track ‘Little Dark Age’.
The band exclusively told NME: “How many times do we have to remind you jokers that this song is NOT fair game for your utter garbage? Let’s all laugh at this dingus. Clock’s ticking, mate. Happy Independence Day”.
At the bottom of the video, there’s an accreditation line saying, “Promoted by Alan Mabbutt on behalf of the Conservative Party.”
However, the song was not licensed by the Conservative Party, Mabbutt or Sunak for use, violating multiple copyright laws. The Facebook post was removed by the platform on Monday (July 1), but despite numerous takedown notices sent to X and a cease and desist letter sent to the Tories, the video has not been removed from the site, which MGMT are no longer using.
In the video, which you can watch here, ‘Little Dark Age’ plays over footage of the UK’s Armed Forces as Sunak speaks about the need to defend the UK at a time with lots of geopolitical tensions.
As threats rise we will always back our Armed Forces.
Strengthening them to defend our nation and our values 🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/il2C4YG1Su
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 29, 2024
The General Election is ongoing today (July 4) with the Labour Party anticipating a landslide win after 14 years of the Tories being in government, which would make Keir Starmer the next Prime Minister.
A number of big names have backed Labour this time around, including Elton John, who delivered a video message at a party campaign event in London at the weekend. Other figures to speak at the event, either in person or via video message, included Games Of Thrones actor Kit Harington, comedians Bill Bailey and Jason Manford, singer Beverley Knight and businesswoman and Dragons’ Den investor Deborah Meaden.
Singer-songwriter Billy Bragg also weighed in earlier this week, urging people to vote tactically to push the Tories into third place and make the Liberal Democrats come in second place, meaning that they would form the official opposition instead.
Meanwhile, this isn’t the first time that MGMT have taken on a political party. In January 2009, they demanded compensation from the French Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), led by the then-Prime Minister Nicolas Sarkozy, for using their song ‘Kids’ without permission.
The parties settled out of court three months later, with the UMP paying MGMT around €2,500 for legal fees and €30,000 for copyright infringement. The band donated this money to artists’ rights organisations.
MGMT spoke to NME back in February about their latest album, ‘Loss Of Life’, which came out on February 23. Vocalist Andrew VanWyngarden said of himself and bandmate Benjamin Goldwasser: “We’ve grown and changed a lot as people but I think our new album is proof that we have the same creative spark we had when we met. There’s some kind of alchemical magic that happens when we get together.”
In a four-star review of the album, NME said: “‘Loss of Life’ is imbued with just enough sweetness that by the time it reaches its overarching message – “nothing prepares you for loss of life” – it doesn’t just make you want to prepare yourself, it makes you excited to do so.”