“Sampling – using a fragment of a previously made musical recording, called a sample, as an element of the created song (..)” [pl.wikipedia.org]
How serious is theft? It depends on what is being stolen. For stealing a resorak you can only get paws, but for stealing a real car, you will go to prison for several years. The value of the product is determined by society. This value may decrease over time. Twenty-five years ago, polonaises were available only to the chosen ones, today they are looked at with a pinch of salt.
Can the value of a stolen item increase over time? Teenage hip-hop producers who created in the late 70s and early 80s of the previous century, recording music based on samples, did not know that they were doing something wrong. Young music enthusiasts who were too poor to buy their own instruments came up with a brilliant idea. They began to use two turntables and a mixer as an alternative to instruments. Looping two identical albums, they could only play to those musical fragments that moved them the most (the pioneer was Kool Herc and his famous “Merry-Go-Round”). Thus, they created completely new, unique compositions. The idea quickly caught on, and the music played by DJs increasingly clarified its sound on the model of what we today call rap or hip-hop music. With the development of technology and the fall in the price of equipment, almost everyone could become a professional producer and create music in their own home. These kids invented sampling as a way to make music from scratch.
A new phenomenon that is not defined by society has no value. For old-school producers, the sample was not a quote from another musician’s song, because they did not dare to compare themselves with the musicians they sampled. For them, the sample was just a sound that they used to create their music. Today, in the light of the law, it looks like this: sampling is stealing original recordings and selling them under your name. People doing hip-hop in those days were just kids playing music. Music that was not taken seriously by “real” and “educated” musicians… Until rappers started making real money.
They stole springs, which over time grew to the size of a Ferrari. After about fifteen years from the beginning of hip-hop culture, “real” musicians began to apply to rap producers for their payment for participation in the recording. The problem is that in the meantime, this culture has developed all over the world and put down roots, and sampling has become a natural part of it. Millions of kids believed that sampling was a good thing, and practically only they knew the concept. If the majority thinks something is good, it automatically becomes one. That is how it should be, but when it comes to money, nothing is so obvious. Legally, the sampled artists are absolutely right. They judge about their recordings, in which they put a lot of work and commitment, but on the other side of the barricade there is a huge community that is against them.
Is sampling bad? It all depends on the point of view, but it is certain that it was created without bad intentions. Apparently, everyone is born good.
