Nick Thorburn is known as the frontman of Islands and the Unicorns, but true crime fans most likely know him as the composer of the Serial podcast theme song. That theme song has now become a source of contention, as Thorburn has accused the new crime comedy show Only Murders in the Building of ripping off his work.
Only Murders in the Building premiered this week (August 31) on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in Canada. Its music is composed by Siddhartha Khosla, who fronts the band Goldspot and composes for shows like This Is Us and The Royals.
After hearing the title music — which features some rather familiar-sounding, plinky minor-key piano chords — Thorburn sent out a series of tweets pointing out the similarity between the songs.
Only Murders in the Building premiered this week (August 31) on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ in Canada. Its music is composed by Siddhartha Khosla, who fronts the band Goldspot and composes for shows like This Is Us and The Royals.
After hearing the title music — which features some rather familiar-sounding, plinky minor-key piano chords — Thorburn sent out a series of tweets pointing out the similarity between the songs.
Only Murders in the Building is about a trio of true crime aficionados (Steve Martin, Selena Gomez and Martin Short) who bond over their shared love of a podcast. After there is a murder in the apartment building in which they all live, they decide to start their own investigative true crime podcast.
Hear both theme songs below and judge for yourself. Thorburn recently had a plagiarism controversy of his own, when he accidentally ripped off a Julie Byrne song on the new album Islomania.
