What Happens When Justin Bieber Samples Your Music

Switched on Pop

Vox Media Podcast Network

Music Interviews, Music History, Music, Music Commentary

4.6 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 25 February 2020

⏱️ 34 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Bristol-based producer Laxcity logged onto Twitter to find out that Justin Bieber sampled his music, he was at first unphased. The sampled material came from a royalty-free sample pack on Splice.com, free for Splice users to add to their track. Then accusations of theft started rolling in. Another artist, Asher Monroe, had used the same sample just a few weeks earlier and he accused Bieber of copying the idea. Laxcity inserted himself into the argument to show that the so-called offending sound, was in fact his, but not limited to anyone’s use. This mixup led to Bieber shouting out Laxcity, giving the nascent producer a career boost. On his episode we speak with Laxcity, Splice CEO Steve Martocci, PEX COO Amadea Choplin and Verge reporter Dani Deahl (who first reported the story) to unpack how sampling works in today’s music. Then we hear how Beiber’s new album, “Changes,” interprets the sample to convey Bieber’s personal evolution in the public eye. Songs Discussed Laxcity - Good Morning (Splice Sample) Asher Monroe - Synergy Justin Bieber - Running Over, Sorry, Available, Yummy, Intentions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	When you drive a Chevy electric vehicle, you're getting more than a way to get from point A to point B.
0:06.0	You're saying goodbye to gas stations and hello to open roads.
0:09.0	With the growing network of public charging stations, you'll be able to charge your EV while you shop, work, or do whatever you want to be doing with your time.
0:17.0	Chevy is making EVs for everyone, everywhere.
0:20.0	Go to chevrelay.com slash electric to learn more.
0:30.0	Welcome to Switched On Pop. I'm a songwriter, Charlie Harding, and I'm musicologist Nate Sloan.
0:45.0	Today we're going to start with a story about how one tweet from Justin Bieber can change your life.
0:54.0	So here's Laxity, a young producer from Bristol that I spoke with, who had recently wrapped up a show in London when we spoke.
1:03.0	We went out to a gig on Thursday and then Friday when I woke up at 12, you know, recovering from a hangover.
1:11.0	I checked Twitter and then this guy posted this video of FO Studio, the software that I used to make music.
1:19.0	And he's got a Justin Bieber song and the loop at the bottom caption is, there's a Laxity loop in a Justin Bieber song.
1:27.0	This is a Laxity produces sample packs, basically royalty free samples that anyone can purchase and put into their own songs, royalty free, and Justin used a sample of laxities that he called Good Morning.
1:58.0	And I was like, oh, cool. Then I went to listen to the track itself. And I was like, wow, okay.
2:09.0	There's my sample and I just think Bieber song. I completely underestimated how big the whole thing was.
2:17.0	So Laxity in one moment has as big as day as an artist and then the rug is pulled out from under him.
2:24.0	It turns out that Justin Bieber wasn't the first person to use Laxity's sample.
2:28.0	This artist, Asher Monroe, has a song synergy that had come out just a few months before that sounds quite similar.
2:48.0	So Asher goes on social media to clarify what's going on here.
2:53.0	Asher Monroe posted a tweet saying, oh, Justin's stolen my beat because I released this song months ago that uses the same sample.
3:06.0	And I thought of doing that first before he did.
3:10.0	He posted something on Instagram as well, which is getting a lot of traction.
3:15.0	People were actually defending Asher Monroe at first. Why would Justin's figure beat?
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox Media Podcast Network, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox Media Podcast Network and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.