Olivia Rodrigo hits back at accusations of ‘copying’ other artists’ work

Pop singer Olivia Rodrigo has responded to the backlash she’s received over the similarity of some of her songs with tracks by Taylor Swift and Paramore, saying she thinks it’s “disappointing” and that critics are ‘discrediting’ her work.

Olivia Rodrigo first became a big deal when she released her single ‘Drivers License’ back in January 2021, which was met with a hugely positive reception, especially on TikTok, thanks to the powerful lyrics and heart-wrenching instrumental. The hit quickly climbed the charts and smashed streaming records.

Rodrigo has enjoyed continued success since. In May 2021, she released her debut album ‘Sour’ which features other smash hits like ‘good 4 u’ and ‘brutal.’

However, despite its popularity, the album has come under fire after some fans claimed that various tracks had strong similarities to hits by Paramore and Taylor Swift. This ultimately led to Olivia giving them songwriting credits.

In an interview with Teen Vogue, the 18-year-old responded to the immense amount of backlash she’s received over the situation.

“It’s tricky,” she said. “Writing songs about how I feel has always been easy and fun for me, and I think the business side of music has been something I’ve had a harder time learning.

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“I’ve been sort of growing through that this year, but I’ve just been trying to remember that I write songs because I love them. I feel lucky I get to do that and be a songwriter and a performer for a living. …. At the end of the day, I feel it doesn’t have too much to do with me.”

She went on to add: “I think it’s disappointing to see people take things out of context and discredit any young woman’s work. But at the end of the day I’m just really proud and happy to say that my job is being a songwriter … All music is inspired by each other.”

Rodrigo argued that the beauty of music is that it can be inspired by music that has come before, saying “nothing in music is ever new,” and the “fun part” is trying to make it her own.

Despite the controversy, Rodrigo’s popularity is showing no signs of slowing down, gaining more fans by the day.