CALVIN HARRIS REFUTES CLAIMS THAT HIS NEW SINGLE COPIES CHICANE’S 1996 TRACK ‘OFFSHORE’
The controversy began in April when Harris previewed his new single Blessings on Instagram
Calvin Harris has addressed accusations that his latest track borrows heavily from Chicane’s 1996 hit Offshore.
The controversy began in April when Harris previewed his new single Blessings on Instagram, captioning the post: “Welcome to my new song.” Soon after, Nick Bracegirdle — the artist behind Chicane — commented, “I would like to thank Calvin Harris for making me current again.”
Chicane later escalated the matter with a video labeled “copyright alert,” in which he suggested the intro chords of Blessings closely resemble those from Offshore, which he referred to as his “30-year-old” track. Playing both songs back-to-back, Chicane said: “They are almost identical, which is a bit of a problem. I’m defending my copyright and intellectual property here.”
DJ and producer Eats Everything responded to the allegations by pointing out that Offshore itself appears to take inspiration from Tangerine Dream’s 1983 track Love On A Real Train, writing: “I don’t think you’re in a position to be calling plagiarism.”
On May 18, Harris posted a video defending himself against the plagiarism claims. “To everyone who’s enjoyed calling me a plagiarist the past few days, cheers — and all the best to you, Nick Chicane,” he said.
In the clip, Harris opens his Logic session and compares the two songs side by side, adjusting pitch and timing to analyze the differences. “So far I’m not hearing it,” he says, before continuing: “You can play two notes over multiple different chords — that’s a fact. I do it all the time. It’s a thing.”
He adds: “It’s not the same, and it’s definitely not the same as hearing this on the radio. One, you didn’t invent the guitar. Two, it’s not the same.” Harris concludes, “This guy acts like he invented music. I live and breathe this shit, mate!”
See his response on Instagram below:
