The music industry is constantly evolving on a daily basis. So, it’s imperative that I stay up-to-date on current events and changes. After visiting several online resources, I stumbled upon an article published by The Rolling Stone about Lil Nas X’s hit song “Old Town Road.”
According to detailed reports, Lil Nas X purchased the rights to the instrumental for $30 on BeatStars, a music production marketplace. Not a bad deal at all. What’s unclear is if Lil Nas X knew the instrumental contained a sample of Nine Inch Nails’ 2008 track “34 Ghosts IV”.
Music production marketplaces like BeatStars, Airbit and License Lounge provide great opportunities for producers to showcase and sell their work. The business model on these platforms allows producers to license their music directly to users for as low as $25. The low licensing fees give aspiring artists access to a large database of high-quality tracks to choose from.
With distribution from Tunecore or DistroKid and creative marketing on social media platforms, a producer can possibly get his or her big break.
Or be broken altogether.
While it is still unclear whether or not Lil Nas X knew the track contained a sample before he purchased it on BeatStars, I want to focus in on the larger problem: Producers who sell tracks without the necessary sample clearances not only put themselves in legal jeopardy, they can also make the artist and production marketplace liable for damages from a copyright infringement lawsuit.
Dutch beatmaker YoungKio, the producer of “Old Town Road”, probably never thought he would have one of the biggest songs of 2019. But, by lifting a riff from Trent Reznor’s guitar, adding some trap drums and then innocently uploading it for sale on BeatStars, he may have forfeited his rights and any potential revenue generated by the hit song.
Because of the potential unauthorized use of the sample, Lil Nas X may not make any money off of the song either when it comes to licensing and publishing!
Contrary to popular belief, a producer is supposed to obtain permission before the act of “sampling” actually occurs. In theory, you’re not supposed to manipulate, alter, copy or reproduce a sample inside your digital work station or electronic musical equipment without permission. I know this sounds crazy (especially with the sampling feature being readily available on most electronic music equipment) but it’s a form of copyright protection. The music industry doesn’t enforce this step but producers should be mindful of this concept because sampling should be handled with care.
As I suggest in my book The Beat Game, once you sample pre-recorded material, you’re taking food off of your own plate and giving it away.
Once YoungKio sampled that guitar riff, he lost his leverage. According to reports, Lil Nas X’s label Columbia Records stepped in to resolve the sampling issue with Trent Reznor. But, what does that really mean? Did Lil Nas X and Young Kio need to give up a sizable share to obtain clearance? If you were Trent Reznor, would you demand a sizable share of the hit song? If your samples aren’t cleared beforehand, everyone will be at the mercy of the sample or copyright holder.
This includes the producer, artist, label, distributor and production marketplace.
So remember, be extremely careful when using samples. The accessibility to music distribution services and production marketplaces are great resources for independent artists and producers. At the same time, these resources create a sense of legal comfort for users. Many of the basic music business principles are left up to the users to learn on their own. I don’t believe users realize how proactive they need to protect themselves legally. Most platforms attempt to protect themselves by making the producers acknowledge he or she is liable for tracks being uploaded for sale.
Although it’s extremely unlikely that YoungKio cleared the sample beforehand, producers should get used to doing so on their own. If you don’t, you may become famous for being the producer who made only $30 from a mega-hit record.
Darrell “Digga” Branch is a Grammy-nominated, platinum-selling producer who has laced beats for the likes of JAY-Z, 50 Cent, Jennifer Lopez and Cam’ron, who he helped launch the Dipset movement with. Follow him on Instagram @sixfigga_digga for more music industry insight.
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Article needs to be edited.. old Tim road, lil was x. Just letting you know. ?♂️
The chances of that happening is 100000 to 1 though…keep sampling.
This is a ploy to try to distract and destroy independent producers, to make major labels relevant again. Keep producing your hearts out. Originality is the worlds greatest Asset
that’s not being original by using other peoples music. most of these “music producers” now a days don’t know how to play a note!
So if he would’ve sampled and chopped the riff. Pitch controlled it, re played it in another sequence he wouldn’t have got caught though
You may want to consider proof reading your articles before posting.
sampling is perfectly ok as long as you are prepared to negotiate splits prior to releasing the music….and if the original artist turns down the clearance you can alter the chord progressions, instruments, and melodies slightly but keep the rhythm and avoid things altogether….but thats only if you are an accomplished musician.
Most companies that own the rights to music will NOT allow you to use a sample blindly. They want to hear the work. The producer has to use the sample on a piece of work. This is how the rights owner determine the following:
1. If they approve of the work. They want to make sure the artists isnt using their sample in something that can hurt their brand/image/etc.
2. How much was used so they can determine a clearance price.
Get the sample cleared and have all your shit in order BEFORE you release the song and EVERYONE (including the producer) can eat! Period point blank!
Great article. I have one question though. If one is to follow strict protocol and clears a sample before the sample is even used, what happens in the event where the producer might not like the end product? There’s obviously situations where the sampling is done beforehand to see if it works right? But it goes against the protocols…Really curious how such situations are handled…It would suck to get a sample clearance only to lose money bc one wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. School a brother out please…
Great article. I have one question though. If one is to follow strict protocol and clears a sample before the sample is even used, what happens in the event where the producer might not like the end product? There’s obviously situations where the sampling is done beforehand to see if it works right? But it goes against the protocols…Really curious how such situations are handled…It would suck to get a sample clearance only to lose money bc one wasn’t satisfied with the outcome. School a brother out please…
I had a legitimate question regarding sampling protocols. Where is the post? I’m so sick and tired of this website. Negativity thrives and stays on board, but questions, especially positive ones don’t make the cut?
I just realized who penned this article. I use to be a big fan of Digga. Glad to see you are still around King. Salute