'It's disrespectful not to give credit': Should producers bootleg and use uncleared samples?

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  • A Twitter furore around a Jersey club remix of bassline classic "Heartbroken" reignited an age-old debate.
  • 'It's disrespectful not to give credit': Should producers bootleg and use uncleared samples? image
  • Sampling has been intrinsic to musical innovation for decades, but is there a code of conduct that producers should be following? The age-old debate around sampling has proven to be as divisive as the practice is ubiquitous. From artists signed to major labels failing to ask for permission before sampling lesser-known tracks, to bootlegged remixes that have gone on to become huge tracks in their own right, the difference between plagiarism and ingenuity is often a matter of opinion. The issue reared its head in dance music circles again earlier this year when a tweet from Jersey club artist DJ Jayhood went unexpectedly viral. In the since-deleted post, the Newark producer reflected on his remix of T2 and Jodie Aysha's 2007 bassline classic "Heartbroken." When it transpired that Jayhood's unofficial remix was listed as an original track on Spotify and featured an uncleared sample, he was bombarded with angry messages calling him a "rip-off merchant" and demanding he pay T2 and vocalist Aysha backdated royalties. (Resident Advisor approached Jayhood, T2 and Aysha for comment but received no reply.) Others on Twitter defended Jayhood, explaining that the remix was never monetised, meaning any royalties would be nominal. They also pointed out that T2's calls for reparations were contentious considering Aysha had to go to court to get paid. One Twitter user who waded into the debate was South London DJ and producer George Thomas, AKA Just Geo. Thomas, who also works in artist development for Sony subsidiary AWAL Recordings, said it's disrespectful to remix a track and not credit the original artist. "For a bit of background, I've made grime and garage and worked with a load of MCs, so I'm no stranger to sampling and bootlegs–it's all part of the culture," he told Resident Advisor. "But there are clear lines that you need to draw between sampling and theft. You need to give credit where it's due. That's how I've always felt about any sort of unofficial remix or bootleg. You also shouldn't sell those bootlegs unless you've had permission to." Local Action founder Tom Lea—who's in the unique position of running a label that's released both bassline and Jersey club records, including Jayhood's debut album—was more sympathetic to the Newark producer. He described it as "borderline impossible" for an independent artist of his stature to clear a sample of a track owned by a major label. "This isn't about Jayhood trying to steal from T2," he told RA. "It's about the fact that major labels almost literally will not allow artists at his level to legally sample their catalogue. I've been there plenty of times in the past as a label head and as a manager. You can put in all the clearance requests you want, but it takes forever to get a response—if you get one at all—and usually the terms are completely unreasonable, such as demanding 100 percent of royalties regardless of how significant the sample is to the track." Hudson Mohawke touched on this issue in last year's Art of Production interview. He outlined a "relatively new situation" where venture capitalist firms are buying up old music catalogues. "They wait just before something is due to be released," he said. "Then they're like, 'OK, we'll take 100 percent.' And then you're fucked." William Francis Green–whose label Circadian Rhythms has released a compilation celebrating bootleg culture–rejected the idea that crediting a sample is essential. "The internet is vast enough for someone at some point to uncover the sample regardless of whether you disclose it or not," he told RA. "Unless you're making disproportionate profit off of someone else's work, do whatever you want. There really are no rules." But Thomas believes there's a wider issue at play here with regards to the way sampling contributes to the erasure of artists from marginalised backgrounds. "I'll play bootlegs and tunes with samples all day long, but I feel like you have to pay respect to the original and make sure you're treading the line between an unofficial remix and plagiarism," he said. "A big issue in the industry is artists essentially being erased because they haven't been given the credit they're due. Everyone needs to get their credit these days." Lea broadly agreed, but reaffirmed that any anger or frustration aimed at Jayhood is ultimately misplaced. "Put it this way, the major label ecosystem has made it borderline impossible for an artist at Jayhood's level to clear one of their samples on reasonable terms," he said. "But when it came to Drake sampling an underground club music staple on his last album, did Universal bother to clear or even credit it ahead of its release? Of course they didn't. Now tell me where your anger would be best directed."
RA