Sample Clearance

K

Kaleidon

Beatmaker
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Hey whats up guys, I just need a little advice on getting my samples cleared.


I just read an article about clearing samples and it said I need to get clearance from the publisher and mastering tapes of the songs.

Now I tried checking BMI and ASCAP but I couldn't find the 2.

Should I just buy the album and check to see who published the song and where there mastered at?

Someone please help me out thanks.
 
UNORTHODOX

UNORTHODOX

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You should be able to google who has the rights, of coarse buying the cover is a last resort. But you should also know that owner ship changes hands, so the older the music, the bigger the chances the book will be out dated and you'll be in for a hunt. There are companys that will do all this work for you. But they cost as well. You can judge if its worth it.
 
dacalion

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Finding the publisher isn't that hard...you'll have several avenues that will lead you to them as DOX said...Wikipedia is also a great resource for finding the publisher and sometimes the owner of the mastering. If you reproduce the sample yourself, you won't need the owner of the masterings' permission which I (personally) think is a smart move. I would try to get it first but if they are looking for a fee or any compensation, I would just kindly decline and reproduce it myself...reason being, you'll have your work mastered anyway. Good luck.
 
lion-ucs

lion-ucs

ILLIEN
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Probably wouldn't be big enough for the owners to notice or care.

Do some more research on this though. You'll find that sample clearance is more like a ask for forgiveness instead of permission kind if thing and seems theres ways around it, if you aren't forgiven.
 
Kontents

Kontents

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lion-ucs said:
Probably wouldn't be big enough for the owners to notice or care.

Do some more research on this though. You'll find that sample clearance is more like a ask for forgiveness instead of permission kind if thing and seems theres ways around it, if you aren't forgiven.
Click to expand...

Well put.
 
2GooD Productions

2GooD Productions

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lion-ucs said:
Probably wouldn't be big enough for the owners to notice or care.

Do some more research on this though. You'll find that sample clearance is more like a ask for forgiveness instead of permission kind if thing and seems theres ways around it, if you aren't forgiven.
Click to expand...

Yeah I agree, the worst that can happen is if the beat does blow up and they take notice, then as a last resort you can settle by giving up the income from that beat, by which time you have blown up and can make money from newer stuff. A bastard lawyer can demand the whole income from the whole album if he can prove in court that the sample used on the one track is what made the album sell. Until it does ever blow up then you shouldnt worry about clearance, sometimes if a song is hot enough a label will pick it up and take care of clearance on your behalf. With the cost of sample clearance these days, you might just be better off risking not clearing it.
 
dacalion

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Personally, I wouldn't rely on a "prayer for judgement" (so to speak...). It could be a waste of money to go through the proper channels but look at the list of cats that wish they had done things the right way from the beginning and how it affected their careers...Rob Base, Sugarhill Gang, The Verve and so on... you just never know what could blow and Chic even went on record saying that they didn't mind Sugarhill using Good Times, it was the record label that saw the dollar signs.
 
UNORTHODOX

UNORTHODOX

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lion-ucs said:
Probably wouldn't be big enough for the owners to notice or care.

Do some more research on this though. You'll find that sample clearance is more like a ask for forgiveness instead of permission kind if thing and seems theres ways around it, if you aren't forgiven.
Click to expand...

Drakes best I ever had got him sued for a million and some hefty change just a few months ago (It came out when?). Im on the side of a "nobody" (ie one of us) negotiating and paying an upfront fee, and netting most of the profits.

Of coarse play it by ear. It may be cheaper to pay a royalty, or it may not matter at all, but just know, if you blow up they can sue you 10+ years later after you've accumulated how ever much, and sue for millions. (Which you may or may not have at the time) (Ghostface JUST go sued for using the tony starks sample on his 2003 CD)
 
UNORTHODOX

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dacalion said:
Personally, I wouldn't rely on a "prayer for judgement" (so to speak...). It could be a waste of money to go through the proper channels but look at the list of cats that wish they had done things the right way from the beginning and how it affected their careers...Rob Base, Sugarhill Gang, The Verve and so on... you just never know what could blow and Chic even went on record saying that they didn't mind Sugarhill using Good Times, it was the record label that saw the dollar signs.
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
DJ Excellence

DJ Excellence

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Preemo was talking about that issue in an interview. He basically said if you're gonna sample heavily you have to take risks. It's just impossible to clear everything because of time, financial and practical constraints. Make sure you have a good lawyer in case you get caught, that allowed him to settle in a diplomatic manner with all the parties involved.
 
lion-ucs

lion-ucs

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It also depends on who you're sampling.
The artist, the time what label it was released under. Is that label still around, and if not, who owns that labels library currently if anyone at all. Is it a well known joint or a pretty rare unknown record. All of it is research. So many people get into music and get into sampling because they think it's easy and you dont have to do any work but its actually quite a bit of work if you're serious about it.

Speaking of rare records I got a couple very obscure albums.
 
Sucio

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I was speaking with a friend regarding this (this friend has sold over a million records and has platinum records)...

I asked him about sample clearance... He told me straight up...."Sample all you want. If they come knocking at your door, 99% of the time you've blown up enough to pay them off with a good lawyer."

So guess what I continue to do..?

I hear these local dudes putting out local shit and are so worried about dropping a mixtape with sampled records as if Paul McCartney is going to spend his time and money worrying about $3,000 dollars of mixtape sales (and $3,000 being a stretch, most of the time). These people are looking for the Kanye's and the Timbaland's and the Primo's of the industry to get.
 
UNORTHODOX

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---->
UNORTHODOX said:
if you blow up they can sue you 10+ years later after you've accumulated how ever much, and sue for millions. (Which you may or may not have at the time) (Ghostface JUST go sued for using the tony starks sample on his 2003 CD)
Click to expand...

You'd hope to have millions to burn, but not many do. You could end up JUST as poor as you are now with a million+ lawsuit on your doorstep
 
UNORTHODOX

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UNORTHODOX

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Ahh... I see
 
dacalion

dacalion

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The worse thing was...The manager of the stones, after winning the case...obtained ownership of The Verves song and pimped the ish out it! That was gangsta! hahaha
 
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