Can You Own a Sound?

Moreover, Jay-Z explains how poetry hides beneath the surface of hip hop songs, making it a form of art. However, many individuals are unaware of the poetry due to them focusing on the beat and punch lines of songs or quickly labeling rap as provocative rather than hearing the message behind the lyrics. Jay-Z states an individual cannot half-listen to a

Vanilla Ice willfully sampled “Under Pressure” without their permission, which is a direct offense of copyright law. This type of infringement is equatable to stealing property (Moser & Slay, 2014). After a stern confrontation from the collective legal team, Vanilla Ice’s initial defense was incredibly weak: author J. Runtagh, for the Rolling Stone, states his defense makes this one of the most “hilarious” copyright cases ever. One could argue that a more appropriate course of action would be to take Vanilla Ice to court and have him formally charged with copyright infringement, as well as not allowing him to purchase all the publishing rights. Vanilla Ice’s nonchalant attitude toward the infringement lends one to believe he does not understand or care about his actions. Moreover, allowing David Bowie and Queen to keep their share of songwriting royalties and publishing royalties serves more appropriately as a settlement due to the fact that it allows for income to be pursued as long as the rights are

Imagine the number one song of the year with the most downloads, streaming numbers and views on Youtube could not be nominated for a Grammy. Up until June 2014, artists could not be nominated for such an award unless the song was completely their own, meaning there was no sampling of past music. This may not sound like a big deal until songs like “SOS” by Rihanna or “Ice Ice Baby” by Vanilla Ice became chart topping tracks, and are both derived from older songs. Mark Ronson, music producer and DJ, speaks about how sampled music has changed the way generations discover music, as well as how creative ideas flourish from sampling other artist’s music. In this TED talk “How sampling transformed music,” Ronson gives his opinion on how artists transform

Now : Songs are created by synthesizers. Nobody can realistically take credit for their own songs because most songs are re-mixes or a collage of dubs from other people's  music.

Michael R. Cohen, 25B WEST 'S LEGAL FORMS, INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY § 23:22 (2014) (“Since it would be virtually impossible for publishers or songwriters to monitor and control the large numbers of users of their songs, the enforcement and control of such performance rights usually falls to one of three performing rights organizations ....”).

In this essay, you will read about an artist in the name of Robert Matthew Van Winkle, known professionally as Vanilla Ice who became famous for a while, not because of his talent, but because of the copyright of someone else baseline. He thought changing the rhythm of David Bowie’s “Under Pressure” baseline and not giving him credit would avoid him from any questions. In this essay I will provide you my opinion of Vanilla Ice’s song “Ice, Ice, Baby”as an example of plagiarism, with evidence provided of what he did wrong, and what he could have caused.

In the music industry, it is not uncommon for original songs to be rerecorded and altered by other artists resulting in what is known as a cover song. One example of this situations occurrence can be seen in Vance Joy’s indie folk-pop song, “Riptide”, that was famously covered by pop and country crossover artist, Taylor Swift. Overall, there are many factors that go into the relationship between an original and cover song and the artists of each song. Such as both artist’s connection to the song and the relationship between the artists themselves. There are also differences between the original and cover songs themselves including song structure, instrumentation, vocals, lyrics, and lyrical meaning.

Demonstrate understanding of relationships between music and the other arts, other disciplines, varied context, and daily life.

Who determined content, and how, became the issue as demonstrated by the treatment of the 1992 album "Death Certificate" by the "Gangsta" rapper, Ice Cube. This album was determined to be so profane that Billboard Magazine asked merchandisers to refuse to sell or advertise it. Ice Cube's British label, Island Records, then edited two of the album's tracks before selling it and without obtaining permission from Ice Cube to alter his recording. In one of these edited songs, "No Vaseline", Ice Cube raps about his former N.W.A. bandmates with lyrics such as " Yo Dre… you been a dick, Eazy-E saw your ass and went in it quick. "Tried to dis Ice Cube but it wasn't worth it, cause the broomstick fits your ass so perfect."

Sampling is a technique that many artists have used for decades, when given the opportunity to record a new track. Sampling has transformed the music industry, by allowing an artist to broaden their horizons, and give people the ability to have a different outlook towards a particular song. Often times when a producer is trying to assist the artist or group, they will present the artist with many beats and mixes. Of the beats and mixes provided, a few of them may be a sample of another artist’s work. Often times when an artist or group admires the work of another artist, they will get their permission to sample their music and incorporate into the work that they are about to produce. Another reason an artist may decide to sample the work

By the early 1990s, Hip-Hop had become a major force in music. Hip-Hop began when Djs such as Kool Herc, Grandmaster Flash, and Africa Bambaataa would mix beats or “breaks of funk and disco records so that people could dance the beat continuously. In 1991 Mary J. Blige teamed up with producer Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs and added the Hip-Hop attitude to R&B. Blige was one of the first artists to blend urban, contemporary R&B singing with hip hop beats, rhymes, and attitude. After a while people began to rhyme or “rap” over these beats. The first rap recording was “Rapper’s Delight,” by the Sugarhill Gang in 1979. Run DMC was largely responsible for the commercialization of rap; their collaboration with Aerosmith on the cover recording of the 1977 hit song Walk This Way introduced the style to white audiences.

What are the common consequences of remixing? According to Jenkins, “The rise of disco culture in the '70s inspired producers to cut longer ‘extended versions’ of singles so club patrons could weed out the songs they liked for more than the usual three to four minutes”(Jenkins). I believe that if true artists fear that their music may be remixed then they may not do it to their best ability. Now, imitation/remixing in art is not only all right, but it is encouraged, and using someone else’s sound, idea, etc. is considered flattery. According to UC Davis professor of law Thomas W. Joo said, “Most copyright scholars agree that this power is inimical to semiotic democracy and that reforming

Beginning at 0:09 in “My Name is”, Eminem uses sample appeared at 2:31 in “I Got the…” as a major rhythm for the whole song. Sampling is one of the most common elements in the hip-hop music. Sampling is the act of using recordings of other music in making new music. In the hip-hop music history, sampling is always a controversial topic legally and musically since sampling relates to the issue of the copyright of the music. Does sampling violate the other musicians’ copyright? Does sampling threaten the innovation of the music? Those questions are the most sensitive debates about sampling. Sampling begins in mid-1970s, when DJs mixed between particular parts of records, especially the breakdowns, to inspire dancers in the party. The technique, such as spinning and scratching the record while it played, can be considered as an early form of sampling in hip-hop music. In the mid-1980s, the primary use of “sampling” as a basis of the beat is a main shift in production. “La Di Da Di” produced by Slick Rick and Doug E Fresh is probably the most sampled song in hip-hop. Sampling has three “layers”, which are the sound, the reference and the intertextuality. The artist may use sampling to refer the older piece’s context or refer to other people’s use of the same sample. There are some famous cases regarding sampling in the hip-hop history. For example, “Pretty Women” produced by 2 Live Crew was sued for using Roy Orbison’s song. As a result, 2 Live Crew won on the basis

Over the past fifty years, the British Music Publishing industry has undergone dramatic changes. It has evolved as an entity with innovations in technology, changes and creations of laws and new mediums to promote and exploit songs to a wider audience. Therefore, the way in which the music publishing industry operates and exploits its assets has completely transformed, and continues to do so at a rapid pace. This paper will attempt to explore the ways in which publishers exploit song copyrights and the way in which this has changed over the past 60 years. It is important to define what is meant by copyright and its role within the industry. The Performing Right Society website states: “Copyright

Copyrighting a musical expression just ensures that an artist is the creator of that work. There are a couple of reasons why an artist should copyright their original works. The main one is the creator of a work wants to be able to protect his or her work. Also, financial gain from suing. There would not be any purpose in creating music without financial gain for some. If you live in the United States and legally registered your musical works you have