re: crackdown.

[Crossedout@aol.com]

In a message dated 8/26/98 12:35:58 AM Central Daylight Time,
msottila@mailbox.syr.edu writes:

<< As a creator of original music I find nothing wrong with this at all. >>

Here's a question, though.... do you own all the rights to your music? 

If you do, then clearing a sample would probably be relatively easy - I 
get in
touch with you, negotiate with you, and come up with a reasonable 
exchange. 

But when there's a record label involved, and they smell the potential for
large amounts of money (who knows where the next Puff Daddy is coming 
from?)
they start asking for the moon and stars. 

When the Beastie Boys made "Paul's Boutique", most of there sample 
clearance
involved calling up the original musicians and saying "hey, can we sample 
this
bit", to which the response was generally "okay, sure. send me a copy". Or
"okay, sure, send me a copy and $500." 

When you go to Warner Brothers and ask for the same bit, they are more 
likely
to quote you "$50,000, and 100% of the publishing"..... quite a bit of
differnece. 

While I don't hold with the Puff Daddy technique of putting new lyrics to 
old
songs, I do think that sampling can be used in amazing ways (see the first 
two
Public Enemy lps, or the aforementioned Beasties lp. ). So I am loathe to 
say
that corporate crackdowns on sampling artists are a good thing. 

- Bill
Crossedout@aol.com