Katy Perry dropped her latest smash single, “Roar,” last week and, as most of the Teenage Dream’s songs tend to do, it obliterated the competition. Industry insiders are predicting that by the time final numbers roll in later this week, over 550,000 people will have downloaded the song, which more than doubles the sales of her closest competitor (Lady Gaga’s “Applause”) and would make it the fastest selling track of Katy’s illustrious career (which includes seven Number One songs). However, the runaway success of this song is not without some controversy, as some are accusing the Queen of the Katycats of instead being a Sara Bareilles Kopy Kat.
Sara dropped “Brave,” the lead single of her latest album, back in late April. The song has earned Sara and her co-writer, Fun. guitarist Jack Antonoff, a boatload of praise, including this supportive tweet from none other than Katy Perry herself:
I heart you @Sarabareilles : http://t.co/6BGGzoAibn
— Katy Perry (@katyperry) May 16, 2013
Well, within moments of “Roar” dropping last week, tweets immediately began pouring in that it sounded VERY similar to “Brave,” seeing as how the two tracks 1) Are in same key 2) Use the same tempo and 3) Share a very similar opening piano line (which, we would like to note, is ALSO the same piano line that opening piano line of “Something Beautiful” by Robbie Williams uses). This being the internet age, someone (in this case, a Tumblr user named Portkey) naturally decided to create a track in which both songs were looped together as one. (Listen below.)
Anyone with a pair of ears can tell that these two songs do indeed sound similar. But are they TOO similar? Neither artist is commenting on these allegations at this point, and it doesn’t seem likely that any disparaging words will ever be said between the two when someone finally does decide to comment. As amusing as it would be to see Katy and Sara begin to enter into a public beef over the sonic similarities between “Brave” and “Roar,” we just don’t see these two ever coming to blows (physical, verbal or otherwise). All we know at this point is that this “controversy” has been good exposure for Sara Bareilles, her terrific new LP (The Blessed Unrest) and its lead single: Sources tell us that sales of “Brave” —which has sold 394,000 copies to date, and sat at #58 on last week’s SoundScanner chart— have increased by nearly 100% since the release of “Roar.”
So, what do you think?
Is Katy Perry A Sara Bareilles Kopy Kat?
[Photo: Getty Images]