2k is not a lot

Lol Diddy pays 1.8 million per year to Sting

What does that even mean "sampling?"

Think of it like "testing" the produce at the grocery store

https://www.whosampled.com/Puff-Daddy/I%27ll-Be-Missing-You/

Bruce Almighty said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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2k is not a lot

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Now multiply that by 9,125 days.

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The song has helped him become a billionaire

Peanuts compared to what he makes
Sean Combs is a terrible musician but a hell of a business man

Maybe its more of the principle of the matter...

Kinda like how we charge Seattle Seahawks for them to use the 12th Man moniker.

If you steal a sample and get popped for it, do you pay more than if you would have credited the artist and paid royalties in the first place?

Anyone know?

Is part of this payment punishment for not doing what was supposed to be done in the first place?

How does it work?

How did Puffy not know you have to get permission in 1997? I get not knowing back in the 80s, but by 97 we had already seen Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer get busted for the same thing... And it's not like Puffy just used a small sample that might not get noticed.

Reasons for not getting permission?

Sting could say no, could drag out negotiations etc. as timing was obviously important to Diddy

62strat said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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Bruce Almighty said:

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MookieBlaylock said:

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2k is not a lot

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Now multiply that by 9,125 days.

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The song has helped him become a billionaire

Peanuts compared to what he makes
Sean Combs is a terrible musician but a hell of a business man

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weird logic. Because if he got permission, the outcome is the same, except he pays pennies on the dollar for royalties.

So even more money in his pocket. I would say that makes not a very good businessman... well, not as good as he could have been.

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Yeah. And it's not like Sting would say no. It's free money. That's a horrible business decision.

BG Knocc Out said:

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The Porkchop Express said:

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If it's $5,000 a day like Diddy says going back to 1997, that's $47.45 million to date.

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Meh, not THAT impressive /Texags

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Amateur

Gilligan said:

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What does that even mean "sampling?"

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Vanilla Ice Ice Baby and song, Under Pressure

I've had a few clients over the year be stupefied when I tell them they can't quote other modern books in their books past a very small number of words or they risk getting sued for copyright infringement. One guy was utterly baffled that he couldn't use huge chunks of Dave Ramsey's financial guides in his book where he told you why Dave Ramsey was an idiot. He reached out to the publishing house and told them what he wanted to use and they sent him back a 13-page legal document with all of their demands and the total cost to do so, which looked like the GDP of a mid-sized country.

The short answer is that most people are idiots who think if they just cite their source like it's an academic paper that everything is just fine.

What's weird about the P-Diddy thing is I'm sure I remember Sting singing it with him at the Grammys that year, which is kind of even more awesome - Sting shows his public support for it, then sues the hell out of the idiot who recorded it. Actually it was the MTV VMA's - found it on YouTube

Yeah that's kind of the weird thing. I was about to post that video. Sting was out there performing the song with him.

Not a Bot said:

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Yeah that's kind of the weird thing. I was about to post that video. Sting was out there performing the song with him.

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Like I said, Sting would've let him and he'd get royalties. What P Diddy did was sample it without an agreement and now he has to pay.

It's not that Sting didn't want it and sued, it's that he deserved to get paid.

Stat Monitor Repairman said:

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If you steal a sample and get popped for it, do you pay more than if you would have credited the artist and paid royalties in the first place?

Anyone know?

Is part of this payment punishment for not doing what was supposed to be done in the first place?

How does it work?

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Short answer, yes. The video below is a pretty good example of what happens when you don't clear a sample before releasing the song. Cam'ron rushed the popular "Oh Boy" song to the radio without letting the producer clear the sample first, and they lost out on a ton of money.

In Just Blaze's (Producer of Oh Boy) example, before releasing the song they could have negotiated around 25% of the song's publishing. If the song is released without clearing first, the publishing companies will get mad and add extra tax when they go after you. That extra tax can be anywhere from 50%-100% of the song's publishing. He gives an example that a song could generate a million dollars, and you would have to give $600k to the publishing company if you don't clear the sample first.

Around the 5:30 mark is where Just Blaze breaks everything down. I wonder how much of the "I'll Be Missing You" song Sting owns.

AustinAg2K said:

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How did Puffy not know you have to get permission in 1997? I get not knowing back in the 80s, but by 97 we had already seen Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer get busted for the same thing... And it's not like Puffy just used a small sample that might not get noticed.

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Not to mention literally every single one of his Bad Boy hits, prior to the I'll be missing you song, contained old samples that he had presumably cleared. Even all of Notorious BIG's biggest hits had old samples. Why Diddy chose not to do it for this record blows my mind.

Maybe Diddy was just bad at negotiating? He wouldn't be the only one:

https://pitchfork.com/news/90-of-ariana-grandes-7-rings-royalties-go-to-rodgers-and-hammerstein/amp/

https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/diddy-joking-sting-ill-be-missing-you-sample-payment-1235299870/amp/

"Just two days after Diddy tweeted that he pays Sting a hefty $5,000 a day for using a sample of The Police's classic track "Every Breath You Take," the mogul clarified it was all jokes"