Shaira’s song “Selos” has been removed from online streaming platforms as issues regarding copyright come about.
According to the Queen of Bangsamoro Pop’s agency AHS Channel, the song has been removed voluntarily as legal arrangements are being made about the song’s publication.
“We have chosen to take it down from all platforms pending our agreement with the original artist’s management on securing a cover license for ‘Selos,’” the agency said in its post on Facebook.
“Selos” used the melody of Australian singer-songwriter Lenka’s 2008 pop song “Trouble is a Friend.”
Shaira’s song needed to be taken down following a copyright claim as it had used Lenka’s song as a sample and sold it as an original piece without permission from the artist. Notably, a license along with proper credits from the artist and the publishers of the song are needed when sampling so as not to commit copyright infringement.
Lenka had confirmed through a reply to a fan’s comment on her Instagram post last March 8 that legal action was being taken with regards to “Selos.”
According to Shaira’s agency, it was in contact with Lenka’s team to officially make it a cover. It also expressed its gratitude to the fans for the song’s unexpected popularity.
“To those who have been entertained by Shaira’s cover song, we are truly grateful to you for opening your hearts to a song that we once only made public for the sake of entertainment. We certainly did not expect that it will become this big to a point where Shaira will be known as the ‘Queen of Bangsamoro Pop.’ We could not be prouder,” the agency said.
The agency further hoped that the same amount of support would be given once the song was reuploaded and revealed that Shaira would be releasing more original music soon.
The music video for “Selos” was originally posted on the AHS Productions Youtube channel on Dec 2, 2023. Following its recent rise to popularity, the song charted on Spotify. As of writing, its music video on YouTube has more than 9.3 million views.