Sigur Rós Comment On Suspicious Sigur Rós Soundalikes

The staunchly anti-advertising Sigur Rós have suggested that several companies have copied their songs after the band declined to let them use the original tracks.

Questioning “homage or fromage?” on their site, the Icelandic band  wrote, “We’re not suggesting anyone’s ripping anyone off here, or has purposely gone out to plagiarize Sigur Rós’s music, because that might get us sued (which would be ironic).”

Questioning further, the band, whose lyrics are usually sung in a made-up language, point out how easy it could be to create a sound-alike. “In other words change a note here, swap things around a bit there and, hey presto, it’s an original composition. Inspiration moves in mysterious ways.” To allow listeners to decide for themselves, the post contains a selection of the potentially offending advertisements. Adding to the suspicion, it is noted that “quite often when you go back and look for them you find the ads in question have disappeared off the radar (come in Coca Cola Mexico, New Zealand Lotto, Telmex Chile, etc).”

While they do not allow their music to be used in commercials, Sigur Rós have lent their songs to charities, television, and film, such as the memorable “Starálfur” sequence in Wes Anderson’s The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou.

Read the band’s blog post, and watch the offending commercials, here.