Hello all, I'm new to the forums. I have a friend of mine (I know how that sounds, trust me, but it really is the truth). He's a huge fan of the whole "Chopped and Screwed" rap/hiphop movement. It's been really big in Texas, I'm not sure how far it has traveled or how popular it is outside of Texas if I'm honest.
For those who are unaware what it is... more or less its taking a song, and USUALLY, slowing it down and then remixing it by "chopping" it up, doing some beat juggling, bringing it back a few times here and there etc.. Actually its pretty interesting to watch if I'm honest.
But my friend is asking me what type of license he needs or what he needs to do, in order to do this style of remixing and be able to actually sell it.
The DJ who kind of got this trend started back in the day was named DJ Screw. At first he was selling the mixtapes etc that he made to people underground/illegally.. though from what my friend says, he then went legit and started a company.
Now, I have always been under the impression that in order to sell a remix, you must have permission from the copyright holder. But, looking at the huge variety of artists' songs DJ Screw did this remixing to, I simply cannot fathom how he obtained permission from all the copyright holders to sell them (after going "legit" and starting his company of course).. From what I understand, and I could be wrong, but even now, after he's passed away, the company is still locating work he did for people while he was alive and releasing it for purchase.
So that's my question, how was any of this possible, given the highly unlikely chance that he did actually obtain permission for every song he released, especially these that are being released now which he did while still being "underground" and selling them illegally. My friend is actually rather talented at doing this style of remixing and he's really wanting to be able to reach a point where he's selling his work as well.. so I told him I would ask the professionals how they were doing this legally..
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated everyone,
Finch
For those who are unaware what it is... more or less its taking a song, and USUALLY, slowing it down and then remixing it by "chopping" it up, doing some beat juggling, bringing it back a few times here and there etc.. Actually its pretty interesting to watch if I'm honest.
But my friend is asking me what type of license he needs or what he needs to do, in order to do this style of remixing and be able to actually sell it.
The DJ who kind of got this trend started back in the day was named DJ Screw. At first he was selling the mixtapes etc that he made to people underground/illegally.. though from what my friend says, he then went legit and started a company.
Now, I have always been under the impression that in order to sell a remix, you must have permission from the copyright holder. But, looking at the huge variety of artists' songs DJ Screw did this remixing to, I simply cannot fathom how he obtained permission from all the copyright holders to sell them (after going "legit" and starting his company of course).. From what I understand, and I could be wrong, but even now, after he's passed away, the company is still locating work he did for people while he was alive and releasing it for purchase.
So that's my question, how was any of this possible, given the highly unlikely chance that he did actually obtain permission for every song he released, especially these that are being released now which he did while still being "underground" and selling them illegally. My friend is actually rather talented at doing this style of remixing and he's really wanting to be able to reach a point where he's selling his work as well.. so I told him I would ask the professionals how they were doing this legally..
Any thoughts or advice would be greatly appreciated everyone,
Finch