Don’t be too quick to judge that curiously familiar hook from a new song. More than just borrowing, music sampling brings a lot more creativity to the table than one might think.
Just before the tight bass drum drops and the vintage jazz organ faintly loops its two-chord progression, Rihanna sings the iconic intro to Kanye West’s “Famous,” the fourth track on West’s album, Life of Pablo (2016). But somewhere between the lyrics to Rihanna’s solo, one can very much hear the familiar swoon of Nina Simone in “Do What You Gotta Do” and not soon after, remnants of Sister Nancy’s reggae riffs in “Bam Bam.”
From punk rock to alternative, musicians and producers never seem to lose inspiration for creating new ways to make one note flow to the next. But as you stomp to the bass lines of one track, you might just feel disturbed after hearing the same song play a section from another track released years back. Don’t be so quick to yell the words “copyright infringement” just yet; you might be listening to a sample.
It’s one thing for music to be stolen or its copyright infringed, and another for music to be sampled. Instead of simply borrowing a raw clip from another track, producers add their own twists to the clips and use them as foundations or hooks for their song. Sampling is essentially similar to taking an old jacket and pairing it with other articles of clothing to create a whole new look. Consequently, this has sparked a major controversy in the music industry on the issue of copyright.
Though samples copy bits from older songs, some musicians argue that music samples are just as authentic as the songs their clips were taken from. And though samples owe some of their traction to the popularity to sample artists, the thought and virtuosity these artists have placed into sample music have redefined sampling as one of the most dynamic techniques in the music industry today.
A major dissonance
“When I make music, it starts with a thought,” says junior information design major and indie artist Paola Mauricio. She shares that in music-making, things never have a uniform process. Inspiration isn’t something that you can simply will. Yet mental block isn’t the only thing music-makers have to be concerned about.
“If you’re more aware of the business aspects of [music-making], you’ll be very conscious about [the shelf life of your songs],” Mauricio further explains. In music, shelf life refers to how long a song stays at the top of the music charts. Though music is an avenue for self-expression, apprehensions about marketability play a role in an artist’s survival in the industry and can be a hindrance from authentic expression.
What artists do, then, is draw inspiration from past hits to see why how they were received by listeners. Nino Mendoza, frontman of local band Blue Jean Junkies shares, “The Beatles wouldn’t have been The Beatles if it weren’t for like, Elvis, Chuck Berry, [or] Muddy Waters.” Mendoza says that the similarity between the sound of both The Beatles and these artists was often the cause for their popularity. This practice often leads to tension between various artists and their fans.
Then there are those artists who take inspiration by borrowing clips from other songs. This technique has been the subject of many legal disputes. Avid fans go as far as to accuse an artist of stealing parts from their favorite artist’s song. But while this may appear to be copyright infringement, it may also just be a case of music sampling.
According to copyright law, artists who intend on sampling need permission from the original owner of the composition before they release any copies of their new recording. The baseline for the legality of sampling, then, is simply permission. “Stealing and sampling are not the same things,” stresses Mauricio.
Several songs have already been sampled by various artists. A fitting example is Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks,” which was released in 1971. Itself a reworking of a 1929 blues song, it was later sampled by artists such as Beastie Boys, Eminem, and Erasure, to name a few. And while sampling has had such a controversial past, the copyright law and the success of many hits such as Led Zeppelin’s ensures the stability of sample artists and opens up new possibilities in the art of music sampling.
Beyond borrowing
Music sampling has always caused controversy regarding its authenticity and its ethical implications. Over time however, sampling became a dynamic part of many artists’ creative processes and eventually, something much greater than just the thought of it as stolen music. “People think that [sampling is] just like stealing [or] borrowing,” shares Mauricio. “There’s a lot that goes down into making that sample work in a new, different way.”
Clau Lopa, one-half of the musical duo No One’s Home, mentions that he himself has taken inspiration from much older artists and samples. His stand on the issue is clear: “[It doesn’t] make your song any less authentic if you sample somebody [else’s tracks].”
Another misconception is that sampling artists tend to gain longer shelf lives from using clips from older songs, but this isn’t necessarily the case. Most artists see sampling as an opportunity; not a scheme to use older songs to their advantage, but a way to acquaint their audience with much older genres.
Mauricio recounts how not a lot of listeners knew about electronic music duo Daft Punk, nor were they aware that they had made the hook for their song “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” years before Kanye had sampled it in “Stronger.” She explains that West exposed Daft Punk to a new generation of listeners through his song. She adds, “If we keep thinking that sampling is kind of like stealing without being a way for old music to thrive, then it really won’t thrive.”
Evidently, there’s a lot more to sampling than just the discussion of who-stole-what and the idea that “borrowed music” is the sole reason for an artist’s popularity. Contrary to these beliefs, sampling is an outlet where artists can share music by building on each other’s creations and celebrating the new music that comes out of the process.
Fine tuning
Billboard charts’ practice of putting timestamps on songs differentiates what is considered a hit from what isn’t. However, not all artists take this into consideration when creating songs. Lopa says that personally, the idea of a song having a shelf life is more of an unspoken yet acknowledged truth. Certain songs are made for specific periods. “That doesn’t mean that they’re not good anymore, it just means that they’re not necessarily relevant at a certain point in time,” he says.
Similarly, Mendoza focuses on the heart of the music itself—the process of song creation, rather than its marketability. This is a highly personal process, whether or not sampling is involved. Since Mendoza mainly associates it with feelings and experiences, he considers music as a “freedom of expression,” like any form of art. “There’s [a] fine line [between] ‘selling your soul too much’ and doing what you want to do,” he says.
Nowadays, music-making has required a lot less professional help. With the help of music mixing applications like GarageBand or Mixcraft, we’ve seen the emergence of multi-hyphenate artists and singer-writer-producer hybrids from their own homes. These artists have made names for themselves on outlets like Soundcloud or YouTube by marketing themselves through social media.
Though it may seem more difficult to stand out in the music scene as skill and creativity are so widespread, distinction shouldn’t be limited to these two factors. Music has become a multisensory experience. What listeners are looking for are artists whom they can identify with—those with similar advocacies or an aesthetic that they would like to embody. Lopa points to Lady Gaga as an artist he believes is a musical genius. “[The] personality personified in [Gaga’s] music and her presentation is what everyone really wants to see,” he notes.
It’s easy to point out whether a song connects to you on another level, but it takes a certain level of skill and artistry to master your command over music and make it your own. If you’re lucky and your tune resonates with listeners, a longer shelf life will always be waiting for you–whether you will it or not.
