Musician accuses US figure skater Amber Glenn of using his music in the Olympics without permission: 'The deal I have with my label is that I alone can give the okay to license my music.'

He should have talked to his lawyer before posting on X.

Music licensing was never an issue for Olympic figure skaters until recently. Music with vocals was banned by the International Skating Union until 2014, when the rules were loosened, and Olympic skaters were allowed to use more popular songs. 2022 Olympic champion Nathan Chen used Bennie and the Jets and Rocket Man in his free program. But with that comes unwanted controversy between athletes and artists.

Spanish skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté is set to compete in a Minion-themed short program Tuesday night. He secured the rights to his music, which features audio from the movie Minions, right before the games, likely in part due to the virality of his routine. The copyright holders probably saw the bad press they were getting from initially denying his request and made magic happen to ensure he could promote the Minions IP on an international stage viewed by millions.

_Source:_{@Wakawarrior1}_and_{@barstoolsports}

Not all artists are thrilled to have their music played on an international broadcast without their explicit permission. Musician Seb McKinnon was shocked to discover Team USA skater Amber Glenn skated to his music during the Olympics, and he had no idea.

_Source:_@SebMcKinnon

McKinnon claims that his deal with his label states that only he has the right to permit the licensing of his music. He also naively said that the label would never sign synching rights without his permission because the label are “friends of mine.” It's unclear at this point whether Glenn did anything wrong by using his music without his explicit permission, but given that she has used his music for two years without incident, I'm willing to bet the music was cleared, and McKinnon permitted without knowing he had.

Source: @sport_folio and @SebMcKinnon

Many artists would be thrilled to have their music featured in a gold-medal-winning moment. This performance will go down in Olympic history, and the exposure it brings will likely boost Seb McKinnon's music career. It's one thing for a movie or TV show to use a song without paying the artist, but an athletic competition that requires music is totally different.