Okay so I wrote my last blog post on the importance of digital property, and it might seem like I’m going back on my word here but… I think that sampling is okay. To a degree.

Now taking small bits and pieces isn’t an issue, or using something as a reference to create your own thing. It’s the same thing I do as an artist. You can never really create anything from scratch, it’s almost always inspired. So, when applying this to music it means that taking small samples from songs isn’t too big of a deal. As long as you admit to using it and give credit to the original creator of the sample I don’t see anything wrong with it.

Also, depending on where you’re getting the sample it might be a good idea to ask the creator if it’s okay to sample. An up-and-coming artist might like to be credited when their bits are used, and it’ll help them put their names out to gain popularity. More successful artists like Jay-Z, Taylor Swift, Bruno Mars, etc. don’t really need to concern themselves with people sampling their stuff. They’re already millionaires and have nothing to lose by letting someone use a bit of their song in a mix.

To pull it back to my example of art, it’s like someone copying from Disney vs. copying me. Disney has all the resources in the world to create content and somebody heavily referencing their material for art isn’t a big deal. But when someone copies my art, it impacts me a lot more severely. It’s copying my hard work that I am providing for free with no compensation.

To summarize, sampling from big labels isn’t that bad because they have endless resources and money to compensate for it. But sampling from new, unknown artists is where the line must be drawn to protect them and keep their passion for music alight instead of discouraging them by disrespecting their work.