HOW DONALD TRUMP BROKE THE GOP’S MUSIC CURSE: “Trump is a novel GOP candidate in many ways, but in finally making music work for him, he’s managed to master a problem that has bedeviled the party’s campaigns—from Ronald Reagan 1984 to Michele Bachmann 2012—for decades,” Tevi Troy writes. “Typically—and this problem has plagued the party for more than a generation—a GOP candidate attempting to use a popular song risks receiving a snub from the artist, who not only rejects the candidate but then takes shots at his political stands. Republicans in the past have nearly always kowtowed to the artists’ demands. It’s awkward all around, and it has made GOP candidates gun shy about trying to use pop music at all, let alone inventively—until Trump:”

Legally speaking, this is voluntary: As long as the campaign or the venue has bought a “blanket license,” which is standard practice, it can use any song from the music library of the organization granting the license. (Use of music for campaign commercials is more complicated and typically requires an artist’s permission.) It’s not the law that stops politicians from using certain songs; it’s the embarrassment factor, which has been significant….The difference is that Trump, whose own celebrity eclipses that of a lot of pop musicians, doesn’t seem to care. Rather than back away from using music, he just plows forward.”

Read the whole thing. Since, as Troy writes, GOP candidates have the legal right to use a song they’ve licensed at a campaign event, why don’t more of them push back and have some fun laughing at the rock star getting additional royalties and exposure as Trump is doing?