DJ Dstar has called out Cedric Gervais on social media following the release of Gervais’ new song ‘Do It Tonight.’ Dstar, as one-half of the DJ group Solidisco, released a similar track back in 2013, a remix of The S.O.S. Band’s hit ‘Take Your Time (Do It Right).’ In a powerful video, Dstar makes his claim very clear – Cedric Gervais stole our song, and this happens all the time.
In the 6-minute video, Dstar (real name Donnie), speaks on the hot button topic of ghost producing in the industry. He speaks on how prevalent it has become, and how the epidemic needs to stop. For those unaware, ghost producing is when a little known artist creates a song or sells a track to a big name player. The big name then sells and markets this track as their own. It typically involves a straight-up cash payment or some residuals based of song success, but that’s the gist.
Gervais, who released his track through Armada records, was confrontational when Dstar called him out on Instagram. Here are images of their convo:
The two songs have big similarities, and they both share many elements of the original. The bigger issue at play appears to be how the sharks continually take advantage of the guppies. In response to the allegations, here is the official statement from Cedric Gervais (courtesy of YourEDM):
“I’m a huge fan of The S.O.S band and wanted to do a new version of this classic track, so I asked my manager and record label if they could look into clearing the sample through the appropriate channels with the writers, which they did. We sent the version we created to have signed off which was accepted, by the original writers, original creators and their publishing company. We had the entire sample replayed by musicians – the bass line, which I’m being accused of stealing, is actually the original bass line of the S.O.S record which we’ve simply replayed, which as I’ve mentioned we have approval on. When I remix songs or use a sample I know there are always other versions of that song that will exist. I had never heard of this other version, which I’m being accused of plagiarizing, until after we had delivered my single. We have the legal rights to use this sample, we went through the correct channels to make this happen. It seems that this producer did his own version of the S.O.S record which is fine, but I did not steal their work and any allegation otherwise is simply untrue. I’m sorry this person feels so aggrieved, but I’m pleased to have had the opportunity to explain my side.”
While nothing is concrete, Dstar cautions all young producers to be careful with their creations. We all remember how Mat Zo called out the scene a few years back – is it time for change? Checkout the full video below, and compare the two songs for yourself – what do you think?
