Sample based producers
Recluse
14 Posts
Hello to the board!I haven??t posted alot yet, but I have been reading for the topics for a few years now. Thanks for all the great conversations so far... all the day time soap opera included!I??ve been producing sample based hiphop for about ten years now and I??ve started to get a little noise going on with my production work mainly in the worldwide underground hiphop circuit. Especially The UK & Japan have been real nice to me... Anyway it definately hasn??t been easy to make any kind of name for myself coming out from Northern Europe and it really has taken some time to really move into the producer market.Luckily I have been blessed to have the opportunities to work with some classic hiphop artists to build up a decent production discography.Now to sum this all up, I got a great placement on a serious worldwide hiphop release in the first quarter of 2008 and I??m starting trying start looking for management or somekind of connection to shop my new material around the U.S. professionally.I know this is really a huge task and requiers a lot of luck and skill, but after everything i??ve done, it seems worth it to try to make it happen.I??ve been thinking about the current music industry standards affecting the underground labels and their way of doing business with sample based producers.So,-Is it is even likely to get sample based music sold for mid level / indie hiphop labels these days if the samples aren??t cleared?in other words, in what stage of shopping beats should you worry about sample clearance?-Do labels like Stones Throw or Rhymesayers take risks of not clearing stuff thinking that the sales remain worthwile but kinda "under the radar"?-What are the best ways to go about this, ??cause I??ve read about many different ways and there??s a lot of dissapointments where you lose all the publishing or the record is done but gets cut or something similiar?It??s no wonder that especially on the more mainstream level a lot of producers are replaying/or using synthesizer sounds or whatever to keep the publishing, but how should one deal with regular sample based beats.The samples are of course pretty chopped up and whatever, but they are still there in the composition.Any tips, anyone?ThanksSir Recluse
Comments
in my experience sample clearance has never been my job as a writer or producer. that is the job of the label who has signed your work. though it is your job to tell them what you have sampled. if they deem the track is going to be "BIG" then they will and clear the sample or if that proves too expensive you have the dreaded "can you replay it"..... or " replay and change it a bit" it scenario!
i really doubt stones throw clear any samples, the cost it would make the albums released financially unlivable with the numbers they do.
if you make sample based music you are always gonna get screwed on the publishing. and theres always a good chance your song wont make an albums final cut if its up against something origonaly written.But i suppose thats the price you pay for your art.
post your site, man, you made me wanna listen to your stuff.
Later,
B.
To Bapt (and anyone else interested):
http://www.myspace.com/djstaffro
http://www.recluserecordings.com
Let me know what you think & all professional advice (Thes & Jake One holla!) is
appreciated.
"Gotta keep your fingers dusty!"
that joint is hot
I wouldnt worry about clearing shit until someone definitely wants to buy it.
Rhymesayers probably clears shit now... maybe not the sad clown bad dub stuff... or mac lethals albums and low key shit like that.
I know that sage francis and aesop rock both clear samples.
I think most people clear samples if they sell like 5k or more. and I'd say you def dont have to clear in under a 1000 pressing.
are you sure about that? I thought it was only getting murkier. Can anyone tell me if like, all the samples on that prodigy album were cleared?
lol. Nope. It usually costs like 20K to clear a sample. Do the math son.
right, so are you saying people are clearing less of them or more?
I don't know anybody that has cleared anything on a indie ever. People get caught every once in a blue moon (John Klemmer is coming for that ass no homo) but unless you liscensing stuff for TV or film things are relatively safe. Until you start generating some serious money its kinda worthless to sue somebody over a sample usage.
unless something changed, I don't think stones throw owns ubiquity.
as Jake and Einstein mentioned, it's not something indie labels can really do. If you only sell 5K, you are not worth the legal fees for the artist to sue you. If you had a song in a commercial it's a different story because that commercial could run 1000 times and create revenue that your albums sales might not. A commercial might also go against the artist desires for use of the song, so you're more likely to catch heat that way. Plus, a commercial brings so much more widespread attention than even 20,000 or 30,000 cds would.
some of the labels I have worked with have had some indie records sell up to 50,000 copies and there were no samples cleared.
"theres always a good chance your song wont make an albums final cut
if its up against something origonaly written"
-I really haven??t thought about that, that might be the case with an album featuring synth heavy production and some sample based tracks.
StressDollaz:
-You can see how I do it if you check my myspace and the beat video i put up.
It??s necessary to do it right in JacobWizzlez situation, when your in his position the stakes are higher.
I was just basicallywondering if people??s music is getting turned down now more than ever before if you have a lot of samples.
Thanks everyone!
and stones throw is sampling the fuck outta some reissues lately. On the PBwolf b-ball zombie war CD... they sample straight off ghana sounds vol. 2 for the guilty simpson track. They sample the Bobby Franklin Insanity reissue. And a couple others... Im really starting to hate stones throw.
But yea i guess your right. I just have been threatened to be sued by Def Jux for a remix album i did for bazooka tooth... and that was only a 100 pressing initially with talk of a 1000 pressing.
But our label is all about the re-edits/mash ups with no clearance... so rock on. Play the theif... nah mean.
uhh so what maybe they sampled the re-issue the music is still good.
why would def jux sue you? Even if you got $10 for each of those 100 cds you made, that's $1000. That's not even legal fees. Maybe they just sent an email to scare you.
I'm sayin'. Why would you even want to listen to anything on Def Jux?
which label is this?
I donno... it just seems kinda trite to me when people are sampling shit straight offa collections or stuff that just popped up in collections that I KNOW they are aware of... and I am just assuming cause that seems to be stones throws game lately... or maybe they are just trying to sample up all the common LA funk DJ staples before everyone else does. I just find a lot of shit fishy about the stuff stones throw is sampling lately. Sampling ethics is a an annoying game to get into, but Im just throwing out my 2 cents.