Artists are getting increasingly wary of getting burned the Pharrell way.

Miguel has revealed that when he wrote the riff for ‘Leaves’, a track on his new album Wildheart, he got concerned that it sounded too similar to the Smashing Pumpkin’s song ‘1979’. Instead of crossing his fingers, he got in touch with Billy Corgan about it – and ended up giving him a writing credit on the song.

Talking to News.Com.Au, Miguel explained: “The guitar riff just came to me in such a subconscious way, the song literally wrote itself in minutes… It was kind of reminiscent of ‘1979.’ I was a fan of them growing up, but I never bought their albums or saw them live. It’s weird how some things just sink in… Towards the end of the song when the drum programming kicks in, it’s even more reminiscent. You realize it in a more straight-on way. It’s cool they were cool about everything. It’s all about respect. We’re all standing on the shoulders of giants at this point.

Compare and contrast below.

At least Miguel’s avoided the fate of Sam Smith, who was forced to concede a writing credit on his hit ‘Stay With Me’ to Tom Petty over its similarity to the veteran rocker’s ‘I Won’t Back Down’, despite claiming never to have heard it. [via Stereogum]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqjlnjHRh6c