Sampling music can be a very complicated process, especially when samples contain samples, which in today's music industry is increasingly the case. Not only do you need to receive the permission of the music label which owns the sound recording rights, but you also need to gather permission from the songs publisher. This obviously continues until you receive permission from all owners of the samples within the sample being used. From this it is clear that it is almost impossible to obtain all of the clearances necessary to avoid a hefty lawsuit.
Daft Punk is a French electronic music duo that reached significant popularity in the late 1990's. According to "WhoSampled" they have used over 216 samples, created 26 covers and recorded around 7 remixes. Their hit song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" (2001), featured a sample from "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong (1979). "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" then went on to be sampled in approximately twenty more songs including the major chart toppers "Stronger" by Kanye West (2007) and "Boom Boom Pow" by Black Eyed Peas (2009).
"Cola Bottle Baby"
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
In the music industry with changing times and developing technologies we need to acknowledge that artists have and will continue to draw inspiration from and/or sample each other's work.
References:
WhoSampled, 2013, "Hot Artists", Retrieved 11 August 2013, <http://www.whosampled.com/hot-artists/1/>
Daft Punk - Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger 2009, YouTube Video, emimusic, Retrieved 11 August 2013, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gAjR4_CbPpQ>
Edwin Birdsong - Cola Bottle Baby 2009, Youtube Video, Retrieved 11 August 2013, <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3AKrwna2C8
“We now inhabit a ‘remix culture’, a culture which is dominated by amateur creators – creators who are no longer willing to be merely passive receptors of content. Instead, they are demanding a much broader right, a right to mashup and remix material – to take on the role of producers – to cut, paste, sample or jam with content, in order to produce something which is distinctive of their own social and creative innovation.”
ReplyDelete(O'Brien, Damien and Fitzgerald, Brian (2006) , 1)
Hi Amy, I liked your critical introduction and was surprised by the ending, where you're kind of getting indulgent to the remixes. Do you think the solution is just to accept the copying?
I agree to the fact, that it is a sneaky way to gain market, but it is the same in all business; Once you’re in a blue ocean, it becomes red If it creates revenue. We might accept the fact that we rely on peoples conscience – maybe by donating?
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI think you started off by making a good point about the state of music today, that anyone can be a music producer with the technology that is available, in addition to the popularity of "remixing" songs with these programs. I tend to agree with your viewpoint in that DJ's and producers aren't necessarily introducing anything new to the fold with their "music". Your examples of older songs that were sampled in some of today's modern music hits shows strong evidence of the remixing and sampling culture in music today. The most striking point was the sample within a sample, to the point of completely obscuring an original song. Thanks for the read.
Hi Amy,
ReplyDeleteI found your discussion on remixes within the music industry to be highly relevant in today's society. I particularly found your point of samples within samples in relation to Daft Punk to be an effective example. Your use of videos were also highly relevant to your post. I agree with your view that remixers are thieves especially when the original sample is not cited, however if an artist has gained the necessary approval from the original artist, they are free to use existing material how they want. I think this just highlights the level of unoriginality in today's digital world.