Demi Lovato Copied Sleigh Bells On ‘Confident’ Track? Check Out The Evidence

Demi Lovato and Sleigh Bells might exist in two very separate music universes, but a new accusation levied against the former Disney star by the pop-metal band is clashing those two worlds together.

On Monday, Sleigh Bells tweeted an accusation that Demi Lovato and her team ripped off two tracks from the duo’s debut album Treats, which was released more than five years ago. “Infinity Guitars” and “Riot Rhythm,” both of which were singles from that critically-acclaimed collection, share some startling similarities with a new track from Lovato’s latest album, Confident.

.@ddlovato Demi Lovato flattered you guys sampled Infinity Guitars & Riot Rhythm for “Stars” but we were not contacted. Gotta clear those.

— SLEIGH BELLS (@sleighbells) November 2, 2015

“Stars” may favor a traditional contemporary pop chorus instead of the messy rock vibe from the songs that Sleigh Bells is accusing Demi Lovato of ripping off, but there’s some striking similarities in the rest of the track. Compare, for example, the breakdown after Lovato’s first chorus at 1:08 to Sleigh Bell’s “Infinity Guitars.” Even the vocal in the original track is remarkably similar to sound added over the top in Lovato’s version.

Of course, Sleigh Bells tagged Lovato’s official Twitter in their statement, which brought hoards of Demi Lovato supporters to her defense. While few of them claimed “Stars” bore no appearance to the songs churned out by bandmates Alexis Krauss and Derek Edward Miller, many of them were upset about the way that Sleigh Bells went about bringing it to the public’s attention. Others said they were looking capitalize off of Lovato’s wider audience.

@sleighbells @ddlovato The least you could do is attempt to be professional. Don’t air your dirty laundry on the internet.

— DEMI LOV?TO NEWS (@justcatchmedemi) November 2, 2015

@sleighbells @ddlovato honestly this is really immature of you to tweet her this. If you have a problem contact her DIRECTLY. — Julia Fager (@JuliaFager1) November 2, 2015

Demi Lovato has an advantage in the dispute by having exponentially more listeners than Sleigh Bells; the pair hold under 45,000 followers on Twitter compared to Lovato’s more than 36 million. Still, that might not be as successful in drowning out the accusations as she might hope. Music-minded fans of Sleigh Bells pointed out specific ways that Demi Lovato’s “Stars” mimics the songs from Treats, not to mention lambasting the artist for a lack of artistic integrity.

@DemiHoliness @sleighbells the drum sample is the same one from infinity guitars, and the drum fill for the drop is the same one in RR

— samurai jackie (@rubyninja671) November 2, 2015

@dignamjosephine @parmajoncheese yeah, that’s what sampling is. You take something existing and use it for your own song. But normally 1/2

— Juliette (@piqueaboo) November 2, 2015

@dignamjosephine @parmajoncheese the other artist got permission from the original artist. This seems to indicate Demi’s writers didn’t 2/2

— Juliette (@piqueaboo) November 2, 2015

Fans of Sleigh Bells are probably less than shocked that an artist like Lovato would want to capitalize on the sound put together by Alexis Krauss and Derek Edward Miller. While the band has garnered significant notoriety, many have predicted their hardcore brand of cheerleader refrain-laced pop music to blow up in a big way.

If Demi Lovato wanted to copy Sleigh Bells, her team would have been wise to use her name to bring the style to a more mainstream audience; but, if that was their intention, it appears they might have been thwarted by failing to give credit where it was due.

[Photos by Christopher Polk/Getty Images]