The Backstreet Boys are NOT cool with Donald Trump using their tunes

Song theft isn’t cool — especially when your song is being used to back something you don’t morally support. It seems like it happens a ton during campaign season, and the latest victims are the Backstreet Boys.

On Wednesday, there was a Trump rally in Ocala, Florida, and allegedly the song “I Want It That Way” was played a bunch. Backstreet Boys got word of it, and they’re not very happy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fndeDfaWCg?feature=oembed

"[The Backstreet Boys] did not approve this and we are not associated with the Trump camp," said Steven Trachtenbroit, the group's publicist, to The Daily Beast.

You’d think Trump in particular would learn by now. There have been many artists who have publicly shamed him for using their music without permission, including The Rolling Stones, Aerosmith, the White Stripes, Adele, and R.E.M.

As for The Rolling Stones, Mick Jagger mentioned that he’s asked Trump’s camp to stop using “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” (a strange choice, if you think about it) multiple times, but nobody seems to listen.

“We [previously] said, like, ‘Don't use our music,’ Jagger said on a Rolling Stones Twitter Q&A. “So, the thing is, when you appear in America...if you're in a public place like Madison Square Garden or a theater, you can play any music you want, and you can't be stopped. So, if you write a song and someone plays it in a restaurant that you go to, you can't stop them. They can play what they want."

So, perhaps Trump’s team took that quote to heart. But legal or not, it doesn’t mean that it’s necessarily the right thing to do — especially since artists seem extremely vocal when one of their songs is improperly used.

I guess any publicity is better than no publicity, but — hey, at least the Backstreet Boys are in good company.