Hi everyone, welcome back! I hope you all are doing well <3 In this post, we’ll be covering the ethics and art of music sampling. This is one of my favorite topics to cover, so sorry if it’s a lot of information. I swear it’s very interesting and relevant. Most of this is research from about a year ago, with tweaks to include more recent examples.

A Familiar Favorite

If you listen to pop hits on the radio or in general, you’ve probably heard Latto’s 2021 release, “Big Energy.” Here’s a snippet to refresh your memory.

At first, when you listen to the intro, it sounds like Mariah Carey’s “Fantasy,” which is funny because there was an official release later on where Latto’s song was remixed with Mariah’s song. However, “Fantasy” was not the song being sampled; it was actually “Genius of Love” by the band Tom Tom Club being sampled in both songs. But of course, people know it because of “Queen” Mariah.

What is Sampling

There was a little bit of misinterpretation at that time because the logistics of sampling are confusing. So, to clear it up, The Abbey Road Institute (an accredited music production school) defines sampling as the inclusion of a pre-existing recording by someone else in your composition.

Sampling exploded in the ’90s up to the early 2000s, and it is still used today, even more so. However, some people aren’t familiar with the process and the effect of music sampling. With many artists using sampling in their songs, it is important to understand the ethics behind music sampling, such as the law, and its role in artistic integrity.

Sampling and the Law

As I mentioned earlier, music sampling and the law can be a little confusing, but it is important to have a general understanding of the role the law plays in sampling. With that said, let’s get down to business.

When someone uses copyrighted music, it is important to make sure that it comes from the public domain and that you have the right to use it. Copyright infringement is when someone uses music without a license or written permission from the owner. It’s very easy to commit copyright infringement, which leads to people being sued and taking things to court; this is where the role of a forensic musicologist comes into play.

A forensic musicologist’s job is to analyze and determine the issues related to copyright infringement, plagiarism, and authorship. They can be hired in legal situations to provide expert testimony and reports on whether a piece of music has unlawfully copied elements in their work.

So What Happens in a Legal Dispute?

In most cases, the owner and licensee can come to terms and reach an agreement. Kembrew McLeod—an associate professor of Communication at the University of Iowa, co-author of Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling, and co-producer of the documentary Copyright Criminals—explains that, “Musicians or, rather, their record labels negotiate and attempt to gain or avoid the necessary and often costly licenses required to make use of samples of pre-existing recordings in a new recorded context.” 

Typically, there are three outcomes: rights granted, obligations, and compensation. Rights granted are when the owner and/or label grant rights to the licensee, and obligations are when the licensee is required to comply with the owner’s commitments. Finally, we have compensation, where they discuss how the licensee will compensate the owner for using their work.

However, McLeod also appears as a guest speaker on NPR’s Music Sampling: Creativity or Criminality?”, and informs us that “there is in the United States, a kind of loophole called fair use. And that allows for quoting from copyrighted works for purposes of criticism, commentary, and recontextualization. That is not considered an infringement.”

So, fair use can be used to educate others or as commentary, but if you intend to create something out of that for commercial gain, then that is when it becomes infringement. These things are always essential to keep in mind, especially if you are someone pursuing a career as a musician and don’t want to pay compensation (or be sued) for accidentally using a song illegally.

Altered or Infringing?

According to The Ethics of Digital Audio-Sampling: Engineers’ Discourse, a musician can alter the sound enough that it is unrecognizable, and there wouldn’t be too much of a problem with originality. An example of this is Katy Perry’s recent (2022) victory in a case over copyright infringement for her song ‘Dark Horse’. Her song uses a sample from a song written by Marcus Gray called  ‘Joyful Noise,’ but actually, she just altered it to make a new sound, and you can hardly even tell it was sampled.

Sampling As an Art Form

Sampling is an art form. Marte Boev, founder of In Search of Media, believes music sampling is a beauty and art. He states, “music sampling is art. Sampling can be lazy, but it can be done to absolute perfection. It’s a form of expression at the end of the day, and nothing will ever change that fact.” He puts well into words the beauty and art of sampling, upcycling, and paying homage to the artist.

Rereading this, two artists come to mind: Kendrick and Tyler, The Creator. Through their use of samples, they create and upcycle sounds, creating new art for new generations to enjoy while keeping the art of artists and composers alive (that’s how I view it).

Recently, Benson Boone’s latest single, released last week, samples Olivia Newton-John’s ‘Physical‘. Once I heard the song and the sample, it was my sign to post this, and the cafe I’m at is playing the song while I’m writing lol. (I’m low-key still waiting for Benson Boone to save male pop, but we’ll see how his album does this year.)

Final Thoughts

To wrap things up, it’s essential to give credit where credit is due, as there are individuals who solely intend to profit from another’s success and creativity. This is why laws are in place, and highlighting the importance of these laws justifies the artists who use samples and are being sampled. This is why understanding the ethics and effects behind music sampling is so important. When these things are understood and put into practice, new art is created, ethically and tastefully.

I will definitely be covering copyright cases, outcomes, and times where artists use samples in the future, because, like I said, it’s my favorite topic to research. I probably could’ve written 10 more pages, and that would’ve taken a decade to write, let alone read. With that said, thanks for reading. I appreciate you! <3

-Elise

My sources, if you’re interested 🙂

Boev, Martin. The Art of Sampling Music… A Few Thoughts. 2021.

Donahue, Bill. “Katy Perry Wins in ‘Dark Horse’ Copyright Appeal.” Billboard.com, 2022.

Flatow, Ira. NPR: Digital Music Sampling: Creativity Or Criminality? 2011.

McLeod, Kembrew, et al. Creative License: The Law and Culture of Digital Sampling. Music & Letters, vol. 93, no. 3, 2012, pp. 446–448.

Porcello, Thomas. “The Ethics of Digital Audio-Sampling: Engineers’ Discourse.” Popular Music, vol. 10, no. 1, Jan. 1991, pp. 69–84.

Sampling: Its Role in Hip Hop and Its Legacy in Music Production Today. Abbey Road Institution, 2020.

U.S. Copyright Office: What Musicians Should Know about Copyright. Copyright.gov.