6 ms·

The Musicians Behind One of the Most Sampled Songs in History Finally Got Paid

49 points by ZeljkoS 11y ago

gluelogic 11y ago
This is a very informative video on the "Amen break" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac I am sure most readers have heard it somewhere. It really is ubiquitous.
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  I watch this documentary every few years because of how well put together it is. The fact that it, itself, is being played on a record is awesome.
steve19 11y ago
Can someone explain why the artist cannot sue everyone who sampled the track? Seems like plenty of lawyers who would happily take it on given the recent successful lawsuits? [0] Does their limited sampling not constitute copyright infringement or is the ownership/creation disputed? [0] http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robin-thicke-and-pharrell-lose-blurred-lines-lawsuit-20150310 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robin-thicke-and-phar...
- gluelogic 11y ago
  I imagine the difficulty lies in the fact that it has simply been sampled so frequently and over such a long period of time that the case would not be easy to win and incredibly expensive to prosecute.
- sehugg 11y ago
  (I'm not a lawyer... this is not legal advice... etc) But I think he probably could try it if he wanted to. There are a number of "sample trolls" using technology that finds samples in old songs: http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/040914-why-are-we-seeing-new-sampling-suits-over-old-songs/ http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/040914-wh... The statute of limitations for copyright infringement usually starts when the infringement is discovered: http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_law/copyright_statute_limitations.htm http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_la...
- rvense 11y ago
  It constitutes copyright infringement, but of the copyright to the recording, not the "composition". AFAIK the band doesn't own the recording.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- aikah 11y ago
  I think he could, definitely. Some artists have been sued for way less. I'm pretty sure this stuff was sampled and used by more than 10 000 different artists, in the drum'n'bass scene it's obvious.
DougN7 11y ago
I'm the first to admit I'm musically illierate but how likely is it that no one has never played a (simple?) six second beat like that before? I don't know what drum music looks like on paper but six seconds can't have so much information content that it hasn't been hit upon by others in the past, can it?
- mdda 11y ago
  The words "I" "have" "a" "dream" take less than six seconds to say, so surely that information content has been hit upon by others in the past... As someone else has posted, there's a great documentary about the whole sampling/resampling scene that explains a bit about the attractions of this particular sonic segment : Suffice to say, there's a lot more to it than just a 1-2-3-4 pattern.
  - SixSigma 11y ago
    Funny you should mention that, the mlk family retain copyright of the recording, after a lawsuit with CBS, of that speech which is why you don't hear it in full. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream Though I suspect you know that already.
- skwosh 11y ago
  It is kind of absurd. Music is intrinsically about reuse, recycling, and reinvention [1]. Sampling is really just a continuation of that. [1] Axis of Awesome, The Four Chord Song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I
- robotresearcher 11y ago
  People are not copying the composed phrase, they are using the performance directly. The original audio recording is sampled, processed and replayed as a component of a new song.
- Synaesthesia 11y ago
  It's a very punchy, very energetic fill or break that's just proven extremely versatile and great sounding, especially for drum and bass. It just sounds good! There are some other very famous breaks too, the Funky Drummer for example.
skwosh 11y ago
The song that the article refers to is Amen by The Winstons (1969), a cover of the gospel-like Amen by Jester Hairston (1963). Though the drum break was played (and probably "composed") by band-member G. C. Coleman, the cheque was made out to the copyright holder and singer of the band Richard L. Spencer. I wonder what would be different if Sony held the rights.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]

49 points by ZeljkoS 11y ago

This is a very informative video on the "Amen break" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SaFTm2bcac I am sure most readers have heard it somewhere. It really is ubiquitous.

DiabloD3 11y ago
I watch this documentary every few years because of how well put together it is. The fact that it, itself, is being played on a record is awesome.

steve19 11y ago

Can someone explain why the artist cannot sue everyone who sampled the track? Seems like plenty of lawyers who would happily take it on given the recent successful lawsuits? [0] Does their limited sampling not constitute copyright infringement or is the ownership/creation disputed? [0] http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robin-thicke-and-pharrell-lose-blurred-lines-lawsuit-20150310 http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/robin-thicke-and-phar...

gluelogic 11y ago
I imagine the difficulty lies in the fact that it has simply been sampled so frequently and over such a long period of time that the case would not be easy to win and incredibly expensive to prosecute.
sehugg 11y ago
(I'm not a lawyer... this is not legal advice... etc) But I think he probably could try it if he wanted to. There are a number of "sample trolls" using technology that finds samples in old songs: http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/040914-why-are-we-seeing-new-sampling-suits-over-old-songs/ http://www.project-disco.org/intellectual-property/040914-wh... The statute of limitations for copyright infringement usually starts when the infringement is discovered: http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_law/copyright_statute_limitations.htm http://law.freeadvice.com/intellectual_property/copyright_la...
rvense 11y ago
It constitutes copyright infringement, but of the copyright to the recording, not the "composition". AFAIK the band doesn't own the recording.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
aikah 11y ago
I think he could, definitely. Some artists have been sued for way less. I'm pretty sure this stuff was sampled and used by more than 10 000 different artists, in the drum'n'bass scene it's obvious.

DougN7 11y ago

I'm the first to admit I'm musically illierate but how likely is it that no one has never played a (simple?) six second beat like that before? I don't know what drum music looks like on paper but six seconds can't have so much information content that it hasn't been hit upon by others in the past, can it?

mdda 11y ago
The words "I" "have" "a" "dream" take less than six seconds to say, so surely that information content has been hit upon by others in the past... As someone else has posted, there's a great documentary about the whole sampling/resampling scene that explains a bit about the attractions of this particular sonic segment : Suffice to say, there's a lot more to it than just a 1-2-3-4 pattern.
- SixSigma 11y ago
  Funny you should mention that, the mlk family retain copyright of the recording, after a lawsuit with CBS, of that speech which is why you don't hear it in full. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_a_Dream Though I suspect you know that already.
skwosh 11y ago
It is kind of absurd. Music is intrinsically about reuse, recycling, and reinvention [1]. Sampling is really just a continuation of that. [1] Axis of Awesome, The Four Chord Song, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pidokakU4I
robotresearcher 11y ago
People are not copying the composed phrase, they are using the performance directly. The original audio recording is sampled, processed and replayed as a component of a new song.
Synaesthesia 11y ago
It's a very punchy, very energetic fill or break that's just proven extremely versatile and great sounding, especially for drum and bass. It just sounds good! There are some other very famous breaks too, the Funky Drummer for example.

skwosh 11y ago

The song that the article refers to is Amen by The Winstons (1969), a cover of the gospel-like Amen by Jester Hairston (1963). Though the drum break was played (and probably "composed") by band-member G. C. Coleman, the cheque was made out to the copyright holder and singer of the band Richard L. Spencer. I wonder what would be different if Sony held the rights.

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]