Van Halen tells McCain to stop “Right Now”

It seems more and more musicians are wining more and more about where and when their songs are getting played. The Republican National Convention caused a number of non-McCain supporting musicians to make it clear that just because their song was played did not mean support from them.

Van Halen apparently did not give the John McCain campaign permission to use the bands “Right Now” song during the 2008 Republican National Convention in Minneapolis. According to TMZ the band had no idea the song was going to be used and, “Permission was not sought or granted nor would it have been given.”

Heart sent a cease-and-desist notice to the McCain-Palin campaign after using their song Barracuda after Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah “Barracuda” Palin address the convention goers and the national audience.

Do sports arenas require permission from the artist to use their music to pump up the crowd? Imagine that the band Queen is a huge Washington Redskins fan and hates everything about the Dallas Cowboys. If the Cowboys beat the Redskins to win the conference championship, does Queen have the right to not allow the Cowboys to play “We are the champions” in the stadium?

I’m not talking about use of a song in a political advertisement or a YouTube video, but how far does this go? What are your thoughts? Do musicians have the right over what music a political campaign uses at a convention or other political gathering?