A case of mistaken identity marred an otherwise entirely legitimate airing of grievances from Denver-based husband-and-wife indie-pop duo Tennis on Twitter this morning after the band erroneously targeted their accusations — that a hotel had welched on a licensing contract and was using their music with impunity — at the wrong business.
In their original tweet, which the band has since deleted and re-addressed to the intended recipient, Tennis called out Marmara Hotels after they licensed a song for use in a commercial before the chain allegedly "broke our contract, exploited our music & refuse to pay". Unfortunately, the account they mentioned actually belongs to a hotel chain by the same name in Turkey that stands quite apart from the Marmara Hotel in France, to whom the band was actually referring.
The band apologised once they realised their mistake, but not after several tweets specifically mentioning the innocent Marmara Hotels.
So sorry @TheMarmara for mixing you up with http://t.co/tpHrXQP3X3 there are two marmaras
— Tennis Music (@TennisInc) April 30, 2015
Plz RT we licensed a song to @Marmara_Matt for what is a lot of money to us. They broke our contract, exploited our music and refuse to pay!
— Tennis Music (@TennisInc) April 30, 2015
Of course, the identity mix-up doesn't diminish the root of Tennis' complaint, which, if true, echoes sentiments uttered by Tame Impala's Kevin Parker during a Reddit AMA yesterday with respect to the ways in which musicians make money these days.
Again, because of the erroneous mention, the band has now deleted one of their tweets elaborating, but its text remains (viva the internet), explaining that licensing deals generate most of the band's income, and that a case such as this — where they allege the business "actually licensed [the song], used it, then didn't pay for it" — is too important to just let slide.
"Even though we used a lawyer and signed contracts, we have no recourse aside from an expensive lawsuit we may never win," the band had written.
"Commercial licensing accounts for the majority of our income. When corporations … refuse to compensate artists … they tacitly claim that our work has no value and that they can build their brand on our backs at no cost to themselves.
"We may never get this money but I won't let them skip off into the sunset with our song playing in the background, reputation unscathed."
The French Marmara Hotel is yet to respond to Tennis' allegations, but you can see the offending commercial below, uploaded to YouTube by the band.
