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Honestly, I used to love mixtapes because of the "look the other way" sentiment towards copyright at least in regards to using other rappers' beats. When a tra

by whatok 10y ago

Honestly, I used to love mixtapes because of the "look the other way" sentiment towards copyright at least in regards to using other rappers' beats. When a track was hot, you would hear everyone on it and you would hear people completely outshine the original artist many times over. Really was nothing like that.

6stringmerc 10y ago
Yeah that type of thing I'm very cool with, in that it's part of the community and a shared expectation of sorts. I think it's a great way to build up cred in the scene. I really don't have any beef with that. What gets me though is the lifting from other genres where the traditions and expectations are different. I'm not saying 'tributes' and using other people's material isn't huge in, say, rock or blues. Covers and doing 'Standards' are rites of passage. It's just that I can kind of see why Don Henley got ticked off at Frank Ocean though, because jumping on a really well known track and twisting it in a new direction kind of blurs the expectations. Don & co. are super protective of their legal rights, this isn't news really; I do think Frank Ocean is very talented and his music is quality, so it's not like I'm arguing against his art - just a specific technique or approach in the scene.
- whatok 10y ago
  Yeah, typically mixtapes are kinda lawless re: copyright, serve purely as promo, and then might breakeven at the end of the day. A lot of the time people looked the other way because there wasn't a label to sue, the artist sure as hell didn't have any money, and most mixtapes never got big enough to garner that kind of attention. The Frank Ocean example got large enough and not sure exactly how things were setup back then but Sony is the parent of his label so... Definitely of the mind that if you are releasing shit commercially that you either clear things or run the risk of getting sued though. This is bringing up all sorts of memories of promo singles with samples that got completely remade because the label didn't want to pay clearance. Even worse, having to interpolate tracks and not nailing the original.
  - 6stringmerc 10y ago
    Thanks for sharing your perspective and I'm in agreement for sure, re: the commercial clearance. It just makes sense, both artistic and financial wise. I'll never forget the contrast of watching Vanilla Ice try and explain how the beat in "Ice Ice Baby" was different from "Under Pressure"[1] and then seeing the two behind the scenes Manager/Label guys sitting in chairs on camera saying, "Oh, we knew if it became a hit we were going to have to pay." Still cracks me up. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1_9-z9rbY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1_9-z9rbY

by whatok 10y ago

6stringmerc 10y ago

Yeah that type of thing I'm very cool with, in that it's part of the community and a shared expectation of sorts. I think it's a great way to build up cred in the scene. I really don't have any beef with that. What gets me though is the lifting from other genres where the traditions and expectations are different. I'm not saying 'tributes' and using other people's material isn't huge in, say, rock or blues. Covers and doing 'Standards' are rites of passage. It's just that I can kind of see why Don Henley got ticked off at Frank Ocean though, because jumping on a really well known track and twisting it in a new direction kind of blurs the expectations. Don & co. are super protective of their legal rights, this isn't news really; I do think Frank Ocean is very talented and his music is quality, so it's not like I'm arguing against his art - just a specific technique or approach in the scene.

whatok 10y ago
Yeah, typically mixtapes are kinda lawless re: copyright, serve purely as promo, and then might breakeven at the end of the day. A lot of the time people looked the other way because there wasn't a label to sue, the artist sure as hell didn't have any money, and most mixtapes never got big enough to garner that kind of attention. The Frank Ocean example got large enough and not sure exactly how things were setup back then but Sony is the parent of his label so... Definitely of the mind that if you are releasing shit commercially that you either clear things or run the risk of getting sued though. This is bringing up all sorts of memories of promo singles with samples that got completely remade because the label didn't want to pay clearance. Even worse, having to interpolate tracks and not nailing the original.
- 6stringmerc 10y ago
  Thanks for sharing your perspective and I'm in agreement for sure, re: the commercial clearance. It just makes sense, both artistic and financial wise. I'll never forget the contrast of watching Vanilla Ice try and explain how the beat in "Ice Ice Baby" was different from "Under Pressure"[1] and then seeing the two behind the scenes Manager/Label guys sitting in chairs on camera saying, "Oh, we knew if it became a hit we were going to have to pay." Still cracks me up. [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1_9-z9rbY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-1_9-z9rbY