Sampling Music Sampling Music

As the music industry develops throughout the years, new songs are always released and the need to find new melodies or tunes also increases. Sampling, the “reuse of a portion of a sound recording in another recording,” according to tunecore.com, can be a helpful tool for artists and songwriters and has frequently been used to generate new songs over many years. There are a few different ways songwriters can take inspiration or use older music in their pieces such as remakes, interpolation, demos and more, which are not to be confused with sampling. Remakes are covers of old songs, meaning the entire song will be almost the exact same as the original song except for minor or lyrical changes. Interpolation is when parts of a melody or lyrics are used, but rerecorded. These methods are different from sampling because sampling directly reuses the melody, rhythm, bars, beat and more, with adjustments if needed. The artist must get permission from the original artists and label for the song to be considered a legal sample.

One popular pop-rap song that many people aren’t aware uses a sample is Juice WRLD’s “Lucid Dreams.” Lucid Dreams, released in 2018, placed number two on Billboard’s top 100 chart and also received a diamond certification from the Recording Industry Association of America for selling one million units. The song was a major hit and one of the most well-known songs of the artist’s before his passing. The song sampled 1993 pop rock song “Shape of My Heart” by Sting. There were initially conflicts between the two parties over copyright issues, including rumors that Sting had sued Juice WRLD and tweets from “Lucid Dreams’” producer complaining about the 85 percent copyright Sting had obtained. Eventually, the parties came to good terms with Sting showing his love and respect for the sampled song as well as Juice WRLD’s tweet emphasizing the importance of the song’s good influences. A more pronounced sampled song, but equally as popular, is Ariana Grande’s “7 rings,” released in 2019. “7 Rings” interestingly follows the same melody and lyrical theme as “My Favorite Things,” written by Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The song was first per- formed by Mary Martin and Patricia Neway in the Sound of Music Broadway show, as well as by Julie Andrews in the movie. “7 rings” was a major hit as it was successful in turning a more classical type of music into a pop style. Due to its high similarity to the original song, it is said that the original writers have 90 percent of the royalties.

Many other famous singers and songwriters like Drake, SZA, Kanye West, Olivia Rodrigo, Kendrick Lamar and more have released sampled songs. Sampling even crosses borders as some K-pop songs are samples of older American pop music.

Sampling sometimes sparks controversy among listeners as some find themselves disappointed when they realize their favorite song was not entirely original, while some find it even more fascinating when they can spot old songs and compare them to the samples. While sampling can cause some dismay or conflicts, it can be a good way to procreate music from the past and potentially introduce them to the new generation, building onto the music industry.