Calvin Harris and Florence Welch hit out after their music was used to soundtrack Britain’s Conservative Party Conference on Wednesday.
Calvin and Rihanna’s 2016 hit This is What You Came For played as Prime Minister Theresa May took to the stage at the conference in Manchester, England, with the Scottish producer commenting on Twitter that he hadn’t approved the tune’s use at the event.
“Conservative party conference playing my song was not approved,” he tweeted. “I do not support nor condone happy songs being played at such a sad event.”
The tune, about a one night stand, seemed somewhat inappropriate for use at a political event.
Florence and the Machine frontwoman Florence had earlier shared a similar tweet about her band’s song You’ve Got The Love being used at the conference.
“Today’s use of You’ve Got The Love at the Conservative party conference was not approved by us nor would it have been had they asked,” she wrote.
She then followed that up with a more politely written message, tweeting: “If the Conservative party could refrain from using our music in future. x”
Florence revealed during an interview with Stylist magazine in 2011 that she’s not interested in politics, telling the magazine: “I’m not the most politically minded person. There’s nothing inspiring at the moment in British politics. (My interest) might change when I have a family though.”
It’s not the first time musicians have hit out at their tunes being used for political purposes. During now U.S. president Donald Trump’s campaign, he used songs from stars including Adele, The Rolling Stones and Aerosmith, all of whom contacted his team and requested that their music should not be associated with his White House bid.
