What is Music Sampling?
Music sampling is the process by which a musician or record producer uses a portion of an existing song in a brand new recording, looping it and layering it with new music in a new context. Samples may comprise elements such as rhythm, melody, speech, sounds or entire bars of music, equalised, sped up or slowed down, pitch shifted, looped, or otherwise manipulated.
How can I get permission to use a sample?
If you are distributing a track with Identity Music, you must ensure that you have the correct permissions to be distributing. There are two parts of copyright that you need to clear, a mechanical licence and a master licence, in many cases, neither of these will be owned by the artist who performed the track. The first is the copyright in the actual recording, which will usually be owned by the record company who originally released the track. The second is the copyright in the song.
Obtain permission from the owner(s) of the copyright in the recording you are sampling.
Make sure that you obtain permission from the owner(s) of the work’s publishing copyright, to avoid allegations of copyright infringement.
You may have to negotiate an upfront fee or a cut of any royalties to sample a work.
If you're planning on clearing a sample yourself, then you'll need to get in touch with the record label and publisher involved. You should be able to find a contact from somewhere like The CMU Directory or get in touch with MCPS (Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society) - they look after copyright for virtually every record label and publisher you can think of or Performing Rights Organisations collect Performance Royalties for artists that affiliate with their organisation.
PROs in today’s music industry, ASCAP Country: United States, BMI Country: United States, SESAC Country: United States, AMRA Country: United States/Global, MSCS Country: China, JASRAC Country: Japan, GEMA Country: Germany, IPRS Country: India, PRS for Music SACEM Country: France, IMRO Country Ireland, SGAE Country Spain, APRA Country Australia, KODA Country Denmark, STIM Country Sweden.
What happens if I use a sample without permission?
If you do not seek rights clearances for a sample, the results can have a drastic effect upon your career from both creative and monetary points of view.
In a situation such as this, the rights owners of the sample — usually the publisher and label of the artist whose work is being used — could negotiate a clearance agreement very much in their favour, claim 100% of all royalties from the track, or force it to be pulled.
How can I avoid using samples that I don't have clearances for?
A way to avoid rights clearance problems altogether is to use CDs of specially recorded, royalty-free samples, which are available from dedicated websites and advertised in specialist DJ publications. Some websites below:
BBC Sound Effects.
SampleFocus.
SampleRadar
FreeSound.org
Another way of cutting costs is to re-record a track yourself. This means that you won’t have to pay for the right to sample the master recording, only the right to use the composition via the writer or their publisher. If you do a cover version, you are the sound recording owner and only need to get an MCPS licence to cover the rights in the song.
However, if your cover version rearranges or adapts the original music, you will need to get permission from the publisher/writer.
What does Identity Music require if my track uses samples?
We require that you provide us with proof of purchase of the sample and the agreement/rights to use this sample.
Can I send sampled music to YouTube Content ID?
You can send sampled music to Rights Management if you have provided us with proof of purchase and exclusive rights/agreements to use the samples then this track can be distributed to rights management platforms.
If you have any further questions about this please do contact the Client management team and they will be able to show you in further detail. Or by clicking on the support chat button on the website. (Video below to show how):