Miley Cyrus is facing a new lawsuit alleging she and her fellow songwriters copied portions of a Bruno Mars single when they wrote her Grammy-winning banger “Flowers.”
In a new lawsuit filed Monday in Los Angeles federal court, a company called Tempo Music Investments claimed “Flowers” includes unauthorized “exploitation” of several elements of Mars’ 2013 Hot 100-charting song “When I Was Your Man.” The suit also names Sony Music Publishing, Apple, Target, Walmart, and several other companies as defendants accused of distributing “Flowers.”
Tempo Music said that it owns a portion of U.S. copyrights to “When I Was Your Man” after acquiring it from Philip Lawrence, who co-wrote the song along with Mars, Ari Levine, and Andrew Wyatt. Mars is not named as a plaintiff in the suit.
“Any fan of Bruno Mars’ ‘When I Was Your Man’ knows that Miley Cyrus’ ‘Flowers’ did not achieve all of that success on its own. ‘Flowers’ duplicates numerous melodic, harmonic, and lyrical elements of ‘When I Was Your Man,’ including the melodic pitch design and sequence of the verse, the connecting bass-line, certain bars of the chorus, certain theatrical music elements, lyric elements, and specific chord progressions,” the lawsuit obtained by Rolling Stone claimed.
“It is undeniable based on the combination and number of similarities between the two recordings that ‘Flowers’ would not exist without ‘When I Was Your Man,’” the complaint, which names Cyrus’ fellow songwriters Gregory Hein and Michael Pollack as co-defendants, continued. “With ‘Flowers,’ Cyrus, Hein, and Pollack have created a derivative work of ‘When I Was Your Man’ without authorization.”
Reps for Cyrus did not immediately respond to Rolling Stone‘s request for comment.
In February, Cyrus won her first Grammy for “Flowers,” a track from her eighth album Endless Summer Vacation. The hit song, which held its Number One spot on the Billboard Hot 100 for eight weeks, was written after of her divorce from actor Liam Hemsworth and was largely seen as a declaration of independence.
Similarities Between the Songs
Tempo Music, which claims to own part of Mars' copyright, says Flowers has major similarities to When I Was Your Man's melody, harmonies, chord structure and lyrics; Cyrus pictured in the Flowers video
Mars' song was a chart topper in 2013 but failed to win a Grammy. Cyrus' song also topped the Billboard Hot 100, but she also won Record of the Year (for songwriters) and Best Pop Solo Performance, which Mars was nominated for but lost; Mars seen in 2021 in LA
The investment firm is seeking money from Cyrus and wants her to be barred from distributing or ever performing Flowers live; pictured in February in LA
Tempo Music claims that there are “striking similarities” between the two tracks. They allege that “Flowers” features a similar melody and harmonies to the earlier song, both in the verses and in the chorus. They also claim that the chord progressions used on Cyrus’ tune are similar to progressions on Mars’ song. Finally, Tempo Music claims that some of the lyrics are similar to those on When I Was Your Man.
Tempo Music's Investment in Mars' Catalog
Tempo Music, rather than Mars, appears to have filed the lawsuit after reportedly taking control of part of the song's copyright.
In May of 2021, the Uptown Funk hitmaker was reported to have sold a portion of his song catalog to Warner Music Group six months earlier.
Few details were revealed at the time about the scope of the scale, but Mars (real name: Peter Hernandez) was reported to have retained majority ownership of his catalog.
In late 2019, Warner Music Group and Providence Equity Partners announced plans to invest $650 million in a new platform, Tempo Music Investments, according to Variety.
Tempo was devised to invest in artists' catalogs, both for their master recordings and their publishing rights. It has become increasingly common in recent years for artists to sell all or portions of their catalogs to investment firms like Tempo, or its more senior competitor Hipgnosis Songs Fund. The move provides massive paydays for artists, many of whom — including Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan — are at the ends of their careers, while the companies can then profit from the royalties on the songs. It's less common for younger artists like Mars to sell off their catalogs, though he only sold a portion of his.
The Future of “Flowers”
It is unclear what will happen to “Flowers” as a result of the lawsuit. Tempo Music is seeking damages from Cyrus, and they are also requesting that she and her label be barred from distributing “Flowers” and that Cyrus be barred from performing the song live. This could mean that the song is removed from streaming services and that Cyrus is no longer allowed to perform it at concerts or other events. However, it is also possible that the lawsuit will be settled out of court, or that a judge will rule that Cyrus did not infringe on Mars’ copyright. Only time will tell what the future holds for “Flowers.”
