Monsanto, Starbucks, Walmart Respond to Neil Young's New Album

[T.C.]

_http://m.pitchfork.com/news/59991-monsanto-starbucks-walmart-respond-to-neil-youngs-new-album/

"Many of us at Monsanto have been and are fans of Neil Young. Unfortunately…his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable."

By Matthew Strauss
June 16, 2015 at 3:08 p.m. EDT

Later this month, Neil Young will release The Monsanto Years, an album with his new band Promise of the Real, which features Willie Nelson's sons Lukas and Micah Nelson. The Monsanto Years is a protest album about the food industry giant, and features songs that are critical of a number of large corporations.

Billboard provided lyrics from the album to a handful of the mentioned corporations and asked for their take on Young's criticism. Chevron, Walmart, Starbucks, and Monsanto all responded to Billboard's inquiry. Find statements from Monsanto and Starbucks (which Young targets on "A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop", previously "Rock Starbucks") below.

Monsanto:

Many of us at Monsanto have been and are fans of Neil Young. Unfortunately, for some of us, his current album may fail to reflect our strong beliefs in what we do every day to help make agriculture more sustainable. We recognize there is a lot of misinformation about who we are and what we do – and unfortunately several of those myths seem to be captured in these lyrics.

Starbucks:

Starbucks has not taken a position on the issue of GMO [genetically modified organism] labeling. As a company with stores and a product presence in every state, we prefer a national solution.
The Monsanto Years is out on June 29 via Reprise. It comes in a CD/DVD package containing a documentary about the making of the album.

Watch the video for "A Rock Star Bucks a Coffee Shop" below.

 

[CNS]

http://<iframe width="560" height="...aI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That is freakin' awesome, T.C.!! Thanks for sharing. I have always been a big Neil Young fan; he is so edgy and wise. Gotta love that falsetto too.

Incidentally, I saw where Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for President of the US and is using "Rockin in the Free World" as his campaign song...that is messed up. I can't rightly imagine that Neil really would have given his blessing on this. To begin with, the song is a protest song against the bourgeois, capitalist scum like Trump, but Donald probably doesn't get it. Kinda like when Reagan thought "Born in the USA" was a patriotic song. idiots...

 

[HiThere]

http://<iframe width="560" height="...aI" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

That is freakin' awesome, T.C.!! Thanks for sharing. I have always been a big Neil Young fan; he is so edgy and wise. Gotta love that falsetto too.

Incidentally, I saw where Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for President of the US and is using "Rockin in the Free World" as his campaign song...that is messed up. I can't rightly imagine that Neil really would have given his blessing on this. To begin with, the song is a protest song against the bourgeois, capitalist scum like Trump, but Donald probably doesn't get it. Kinda like when Reagan thought "Born in the USA" was a patriotic song. idiots...

Brilliant, thanks for the links! :)

 

[Palinurus]

Incidentally, I saw where Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for President of the US and is using "Rockin in the Free World" as his campaign song...that is messed up. I can't rightly imagine that Neil really would have given his blessing on this. To begin with, the song is a protest song against the bourgeois, capitalist scum like Trump, but Donald probably doesn't get it. Kinda like when Reagan thought "Born in the USA" was a patriotic song. idiots...

Apparently, he didn't: _http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-young-donald-trump-spar-over-rockin-in-the-free-world-use-20150617

[...]
"Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World' in his presidential candidacy announcement," a spokesperson for the rocker's Lookout Management said in a statement. "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America."

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign told Rolling Stone that the candidate was a fan of Young's music, despite their differing views, and that the track was used legally. "Through a license agreement with [performance-rights organization] ASCAP, Mr. Trump's campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young's recording of 'Rockin' in the Free World' at today's event," the spokesperson tells Rolling Stone. "Mr. Trump is a huge fan of Neil Young and his music and will continue to be regardless of Neil's political views."

According to an ASCAP document called "Using Music in Political Campaigns," for a song to be used properly, "the campaign will need to contact the song's publisher and possibly the artist's record label to negotiate the appropriate licenses with them." It's unclear whether the Trump campaign contacted Young, his management company or record label to use the track.

Young shares a co-writing credit on "Rockin' in the Free World" with Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro through Young's Silver Fiddle Music and Sampedro's Poncho Villa Music, according to ASCAP.

ASCAP addresses artists' legal rights and criticisms in their document on political campaigns under the question, "Can the campaign still be criticized or even sued by an artist for playing his or her song at an event?"

"Yes. If an artist does not want his or her music to be associated with the campaign, he or she may be able to legal action even if the campaign has the appropriate copyright licenses," ASCAP says. "While the campaign would be in compliance with copyright law, it could potentially be in violation of other laws, including "Right of Publicity" and "False Endorsement."
[...]

 

[Horseofadifferentcolor]

This made my day! I love it.

 

[CNS]

Incidentally, I saw where Donald Trump has announced his candidacy for President of the US and is using "Rockin in the Free World" as his campaign song...that is messed up. I can't rightly imagine that Neil really would have given his blessing on this. To begin with, the song is a protest song against the bourgeois, capitalist scum like Trump, but Donald probably doesn't get it. Kinda like when Reagan thought "Born in the USA" was a patriotic song. idiots...

Apparently, he didn't: _http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/neil-young-donald-trump-spar-over-rockin-in-the-free-world-use-20150617

[...]
"Donald Trump was not authorized to use 'Rockin' in the Free World' in his presidential candidacy announcement," a spokesperson for the rocker's Lookout Management said in a statement. "Neil Young, a Canadian citizen, is a supporter of Bernie Sanders for President of the United States of America."

When reached for comment, a spokesperson for the Trump campaign told Rolling Stone that the candidate was a fan of Young's music, despite their differing views, and that the track was used legally. "Through a license agreement with [performance-rights organization] ASCAP, Mr. Trump's campaign paid for and obtained the legal right to use Neil Young's recording of 'Rockin' in the Free World' at today's event," the spokesperson tells Rolling Stone. "Mr. Trump is a huge fan of Neil Young and his music and will continue to be regardless of Neil's political views."

According to an ASCAP document called "Using Music in Political Campaigns," for a song to be used properly, "the campaign will need to contact the song's publisher and possibly the artist's record label to negotiate the appropriate licenses with them." It's unclear whether the Trump campaign contacted Young, his management company or record label to use the track.

Young shares a co-writing credit on "Rockin' in the Free World" with Crazy Horse guitarist Frank "Poncho" Sampedro through Young's Silver Fiddle Music and Sampedro's Poncho Villa Music, according to ASCAP.

ASCAP addresses artists' legal rights and criticisms in their document on political campaigns under the question, "Can the campaign still be criticized or even sued by an artist for playing his or her song at an event?"

"Yes. If an artist does not want his or her music to be associated with the campaign, he or she may be able to legal action even if the campaign has the appropriate copyright licenses," ASCAP says. "While the campaign would be in compliance with copyright law, it could potentially be in violation of other laws, including "Right of Publicity" and "False Endorsement."
[...]

Right on, Palinurus. Thanks for finding the article. Just boggles my mind. If Trump was really such a "huge fan", then wouldn't he know what that song is about??? Talk about spin and bulls#%@. He must not listen to lyrics or think too deeply into song meanings. Or he is just saying that to cover his ass since all he knows is take, take, take anyway. Guys like him think they own the whole world, and use whatever they want to do anything they want. I hope ol' Neil sues his behind, if for no other reason than to just make a statement.