Should I even bother?

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Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
yo me and my ryhmin crew just sat down and picked out which beats we gonna lay down on for the album we got planned. They all have samples somwehere in them... 50% are irrecognizable, 35% are fillped so as maybe only a fellow muscian/ producer could recogize the orginal if they heard, and 15% are bascially the original sample, maybe slightly modified.. i plan to sell this album in the streets and probably some form of internet sales as well..now my question is...since i know im not gonna fucin go platinum or selll crazy records..should i give a fuc about a sample clearence? im sayin its not like im gonna be attractin the attention of the licensing guys with my album or anything(i think) ... im about to say fuc it and jus put it out cause im sure a couple other dudes in here did the same shit wit no problem.. i just wanted to get sum input...
 

ToneEsharp

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
I vote go for it

Well as long as the people can't track you down you should be ok. producers steal (aka sample) each others stuff all the time not saying it is right but it happens. I think you should do it, but just one thing to keep thing in mind what happens if you do get picked up or caught? but your chances are very little
 
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
don't worry about the sample-clearance! since it's underground, there's absolutely nothing to worry about. If the CD was to go platinum, then that's a completely different story.
most underground CDs feature samples, in one way or another. plenty of those tracks include loops, with no manipulation done to the original samples whatsoever! :lick:
 

Guevara

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 34
GoOD LUCK To YoU HoLMZiNi, i MiGHT PUT iN AN oRDER FoR A CoPY.CiTY
 

dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
I disagree Holmzini, no disrespect to you or nothing like that but that ish is stealing and is wrong. Would you be Okay with somebody using samples off of your beats? I wouldn't, no matter how much money was made. Once again, no disrespect intended, just speaking whats right.

--dac
 

Ash Holmz

The Bed-Stuy Fly Guy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 207
i feel what u r sayin dac...but at the same time .... i know that cats like red spyda, kanye west, and 9th wonder only got on because they did things like this.. im not just playin the old song... the album i got planned is very original and creative... it just contains some samples that i know i dont have the money to pay for the clearance... i never said it was right..but if u took away sampling ... then alot of us wouldnt even have beats ... i listen to the showcase ... almost evry beat is sampled... i doubt evryone in hear gets a hold of harry fox before they post a beat on soundclick... its not right but if i get enough attention wit this album that someone would want to hunt me down for a clearance..then i know ive done my job proper..... yeah id be pissed if someone used one of my samples... but then again.. it would probably be someone i know because outside of internet heads and the peeps from my town ..no one knows who the hell i am... thats what im tryin to change..... i do agree wit you on some level though..thats why i posted this thread..to see if anyone else has done this(which im sure many of us have) and to see what the outcome will be.... when i get on and get some real gear to and $$ to pay clearances i will gladlypay them...but the pockets are thin and im just a starvin artist lookin for my break like the rest of us... i understand ur point though and i will take that as a very valid point.... peace
 

dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
Holmzini I got mad respect for everything you said, I was thinking to myself that you were gonna read my post and start tripping but you didn't you kept everything in perspective and thats cool. Now to your response, I feel you on the issues about not having the funds to pay for samples, I understand that you know its wrong but alot of other cats got on by this method, you even said that you agree with me on some level.

Ok, here's my approach to the same goal...mind you, I'm not trying to change your mind but hear me out, maybe you can improve on it. As far as sampling, I would try to make my own original samples...get some chics to sing some hooks, I even got a chic that works with me to sing a few lines and I sampled it, broke it up into pieces and put it back together. With beats and music, I got some local guys to do some work and they just wanted some credit for being on the project. My point is...they will do it for free just to be able to say that they were working with you. My whole thing is being a leader not a follower. Hit them with a whole new format hoping that someone will see the originality, the time, the effort rather than coming in on the same format as everybody else did. Feel me? Making your own samples is like making your own beats and compared to those other cats, youve gone a step futher which will only make you shine even more.

Once again, I'm not trying to tell you what to do, I'm not trying to change your mind, I'm just offering you an alternative to going in on the same old ass boat.

Good luck and I want a copy of that CD, either way, I know it's gonna be hot.

one,--dac
 

Fade

The Beat Strangler
Administrator
illest o.g.
Besides the whole sampling debate, Holmzini you shouldn't worry about clearing the samples since your CD is basically and underground release. You know how many underground artists released their stuff without clearing it?

I'm not saying it's ok but when it comes to worrying about getting caught, I think record labels are more concerned with the big fish.
 

mod1

ILLMUZIK Bell-Boy
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 5
I don't sample but,it's really nothing to worry about.Go on head with your project.
 

young_keyz

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
people do it everyday....I know you have heard many mix tapes with songs that didnt make the album!.....plus nobody can prove your selling the cd. you could say you charge 10 dollars for the cdr or what ever and your not saling the music on the cd but the cd itself!
 

Guevara

BETTER THAN YESTERDAY
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 34
YEAH THERE ARE A FEW MiXTAPES SiTES THAT SAY iF U BUY THE MiXTAPE ARTWoRK, THEYLL SEND U THE CD FoR FREE....LOL
 

berserk

Monster Music
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 33
yeah man go for it holmz... i'm doin this as well and my excuse is... hardly any of the artists i've sampled are ever gonna listen to hip hop... let alone any obscure underground/demo release... also many of the artists i've sampled live in either spain or south america... so they're never gonna get to hear any release from the UK anyway... so basically screw em... yeah i'd be pissed if people were stealing my beats... but i know i always got an original anyway... and if it does get stolen and sell loads... i'ma just make another completely different beat... fuck the world and sell ya fuckin records!
 

Architect

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
Another thing you could do Holmzini, to make yourself feel better about sampling is to post the credits from the samples you used on your album, at least it's there, you've made it clear that you used those samples from other musicians and if the album does indeed jump off, you can easily get with the right people to get all the samples cleared, it's never too late. As long as you know that If you start making some money off of it, that it's only right to pay your dues on those samples, but don't stop your production brotha, rock that shit!!!! Oh and make sure you let us know when your album drops, I'd like to get a copy and support my illmuzik fam.
 

bigdmakintrax

BeatKreatoR
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 123
I am totally against this, get the samples cleared man....especially when you said ya gonna sell it on the internet if you can't get em cleared that's mixtape material.....a real album should have all of your original stuff on it and only cleared material.....forget about all of the rumors that it doesn't matter it does......giving credit isn't enuff just think of how the cats that got blindsided and fined like 10-20,000 dollars(right here in the US) for copyright infringements on Kaazaa (just sharing 1 mp3) that's a risk you would have to take man if you were prepared to deal with it ....I wouldn't let anyone give me advice on whether I should break the law or not....use your own judgement....if you got a very small audience in ya area then maybe you could do it and still be open to risk.....it's like running a red light.....peeps do it all the time but that definitely doesn't diminish the fact that it's illegal......and also 4get about the myth of (OH its only smalltime and they will never go after small time violations....and especially selling it and making a profit).... advertising an album without getting samples cleared is a no no.......advertising and selling an album with uncleared samples is even more of a no no.........Just my advice
 

dacalion

Hands Of FIRE!
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 259
What I find very funny is that cats be like..."Yo I would flip if somebody stole my ish" , "I would do this...I would do that..." and then say it's ok for someone else to do it when they know it's foul. I'm glad that there are some peeps TRUE to the game here...props to bigD. Holmzini, like I said before, i'll support your project either way. I just don't recommend using uncleared samples.

--duh cal yun
 

Architect

ILLIEN
ill o.g.
Battle Points: 3
Decisions Decisions, You have to figure out Holmzini what is the scope of this album your coming out with, how many records do you plan on selling over the internet, on the streets, stores, etc? Does this effort warrant getting samples cleared or is this sort of a promotion/demo thing.

It's always good to do the correct thing so BigD and Decalion are speaking to you on that behalf, but everyone else is speaking to you on a realistic behalf that hey I'm just a little guy who doesn't even plan on making $xxx amount of money off of this album for example and you expect me to pay more than that to clear samples. How do you win in this situation? This is tough, its all about ethics and then legality, because it boils down to money. There was a time when you need not get samples cleared (EPMD Early Days) and nobody complained, nobody felt robbed.

You can easily say don't use the samples do it fresh get someone to play this instrument or that instrument and you could indeed do that, but obviously the samples you used meant something to the song, so going without them will probably make it a different song altogether. I wouldn't say your not being true to the game if you don't clear the samples I would say your being true to the realities of your life YOU JUST CAN"T AFFORD IT! But you still want the right to make music YOUR WAY samples or not. You certainly don't intend to steal anyones riches or discredit the hardwork they've done.

Here goes a guide with all the info you need in order to clear those samples if that's what you choose.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/onemusic/legal/sampleprint.shtml
 
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