Appropriation Show and Tell: “Look What You Made Me Do”

by | Oct 10, 2017 | Show & Tell

Appropriation can be found in many music videos and remixes. A recent example of a music video that uses appropriated material is Taylor Swift’s “Look What You Made Me Do”.

Swift borrows the melody from the 1991 song called “I’m Too Sexy” by Right Said Fred. This can be heard after Swift says “ooh” in the beginning of the song and the chorus begins. Interestingly, the group did not know that Taylor Swift used their melody until after the song was released. However, she did give them credit by having them be co-songwriters on the song.

Also, many of the shots in Swift’s music video are similar to shots in other music videos by different artists. Here are some:

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”

Katy Perry’s “This Is How We Do”

Madonna’s “What It Feels Like For a Girl”

Kylie Minogue’s “All The Lovers”