The spate of artists stopping Donald Trump from using their music while campaigning is showing no sign of slowing, with ABBA recently joining a growing number of musicians telling Trump to turn off their tunes.

And in the latest development in such cases, Trump was on Wednesday ordered by a judge to stop playing a song by the late soul singer and composer Isaac Hayes at his rallies.

The temporary ruling from a Federal Court judge in Atlanta prevents Trump from using Hold On, I’m Coming, the hit that Hayes wrote with David Porter for soul duo Sam & Dave in 1966.

Hayes’ move, initiated by his estate, came after ABBA’s legendary hits, including The Winner Takes It All, Money, Money, Money and Dancing Queen, were reportedly played at a Minnesota rally held by Trump and his running mate JD Vance in late July, and sparked backlash from the Swedish band.

Knowing me, knowing you

“Together with the members of ABBA, we have discovered that videos have been released where ABBA’s music has been used at Trump events, and we have therefore requested that such use be immediately removed and taken down,” Universal Music said in a statement “fully supported” by the band members.

The record label said no permission or licence had been granted to the Trump campaign, which Trump’s camp refuted.

“The campaign had a licence to play ABBA music through our agreement with [performance rights organisations] BMI and ASCAP,” a Trump spokesperson told the Associated Press.

ABBA are not fans of Trump. Photo: AAP

Trump has a long history with this issue.

In August, Celine Dion’s management released a statement to clarify the Trump campaign’s use of My Heart Will Go On during a rally was not endorsed by the singer.

Not My Hero

The same month, Foo Fighters said they did not authorise the Trump campaign’s use of their song My Hero at an Arizona rally, and the band’s representative said any royalties received as a result of this use would be donated to the opposing Kamala Harris-Tim Walz campaign.

Other artists who have spoken against Trump for using their music, either during this election campaign or in 2016 or 2020, include the likes of Adele, Guns N’ Roses, Pharrell, Rihanna, Bruce Springsteen, the estate of Prince, and the estate of Sinéad O’Connor.

Some have gone a step further and taken legal action.

In 2020, Neil Young unsuccessfully sued Trump’s campaign for playing two of his songs at rallies.

This year, Beyoncé’s record label and music publisher sent a cease-and-desist to the Trump campaign over its use of the song Freedom in a social media video.

The White Stripes lead singer Jack White also threatened to sue after Trump’s deputy director of communications Margo Martin used the band’s hit song Seven Nation Army on a pro-Trump social media post.

 

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A post shared by Jack White (@officialjackwhite)

“Oh….Don’t even think about using my music you fascists,” White wrote on Instagram.

“Law suit coming from my lawyers about this (to add to your 5 thousand others.) Have a great day at work today Margo Martin (sic).”

Can Trump use music with artists’ permission?

American political candidates are allowed to use songs at events like rallies without the permission of artists if they obtain a blanket licence from performance rights organisations, such as BMI and ASCAP.

ASCAP says artists may request specific songs to be excluded from a particular political campaign’s licence.

It is usually not a good look for the candidate if an artist is vocally opposed to their music being used.

And if the use of a song seems to imply the artist supports the candidate, it could be considered a violation of the artist’s publicity rights, Heidy Vaquerano, partner specialising in music at law firm Fox Rothschild, told CNN.