IU's Agency Responds to Accusations of Illegally Sampling Britney Spears' Song

IU’s bonus track “Twenty-Three” from her latest album “Chat-shire” has been accused of illegally sampling from Britney Spears’ song.

The song in question is Britney Spears’ song “Gimme More” which was released in 2007. Britney Spears’ fans noticed a voice and various sounds that sound like Britney Spears in IU’s bonus track version of “Twenty-Three.”

For example, Britney’s voice saying “keep on rocking” can be heard in IU’s song. This is an issue because the song does not credit Britney Spears and it is unclear whether there was any permission given concerning sampling the track.

The singer’s agency, Loen Entertainment, responded to the accusations on November 3 and stated, ” We became aware of [this issue] over the weekend. We have confirmed that the composer who arranged the song used a sample from voice samples he purchased in the past. They were unsure of the origins of the voice sample, so we have contacted Britney Spears’ agency to confirm whether or not it is her voice.”

Her agency continued, “We plan on discussing the matter and resolving it after we find out the truth. We will notify you after we find out the results.”

They then apologized saying, “We want to apologize for not being meticulous during the album creation process and for worrying fans. We want to thank and apologize to the fans of Britney Spears who brought this to our attention.”

You can listen to the tracks below.

IU’s “Twenty-Three” bonus track:

Britney Spears’ “Gimme More”:

Instrumental version of Britney Spears’ “Gimme More”:

IU’s performance of the bonus track on “Producer“:

What are your thoughts on this issue?

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