r/electronicmusic • u/SuperBouncyUnicorn di.fm • Apr 16 '13

/r/all will.i.am's new track Let's Go illegally samples Arty & Mat Zo's Rebound [x-post from /r/Music]

So will.i.am's Youtube channel just posted some new tracks and one of them, Let's Go ft. Chris Brown has its main melody taken straight from Arty and Mat Zo's track Rebound.

According to Arty's tweets, no permission was ever asked for the rights to his song from his label.

It's not like Arty and Mat Zo are small time no-name producers (ranked #28 and #72 on the DJ Top 100 in 2012), and their label Anjuna is pretty well known and respected in the EDM scene. To rip them off in this day and age is either pretty bold or pretty braindead (not to mention the fact that will.i.am made a complete waste of the melody).

How do will.i.am and his people expect to get away with this level of tomfoolery? More as the story develops.

Edit:

Arty & Mat Zo's label Anjunabeats is aware of the situation.

Label mate Maor Levi brings the humor. [Soundcloud link]

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54

u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

Even if it is "theirs", there was at least 3-5 other superstar producers behind the scenes that created the track for them solely for the purpose of mass appeal. These producers are so ridiculously talented but decide that this is what they want to do with their time and make tons of $$$ doing it.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

BUT THEY WROTE THE LYRICS SO THAT MEANS THEY WROTE THE SONG. THEY ARE SUCH GREAT ARTISTS!

28

u/neuro_psych Apr 16 '13 edited Apr 16 '13

Half the time, they don't even write the lyrics. They just choose which songs/lyrics they like and so the only thing about the song that's original to the artist is the artist's voice. Fucking sad.

After learning how pop music is made, I simply can't listen to it anymore. It just feels so factory-made and emotionally/creatively synthetic regardless of how catchy it is.

14

u/Aegean Apr 16 '13

Enter Dr. Auto-Tune

I'm world class talent!

10

u/empw Apr 17 '13

okay ke$ha, back in the cage...

5

u/Aegean Apr 17 '13

But I drink whiskey in the morning...

14

u/Oo0o8o0oO Apr 17 '13

the only thing about the song that's original to the artist is the artist's voice. Fucking sad.

Get off your high horse for a minute to take notice of the fact that most singers throughout history haven't written the lyrics they sing. The term singer-songwriter was only popularized in the last century to describe people who do both. I don't like these artists either but let's not pretend that they owe anyone more than their voice on the album. In this case, Will.i.am would be no worse than Frank Sinatra.

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u/2Deluxe Apr 17 '13

TOP 40 MUSIC KILLED MY WHOLE FAMILY

1

u/danc1005 Apr 17 '13

It's just formulaic and repetitive to such a ridiculous degree that I don't understand how people can keep listening to it, and call it the music they "like" (which they only even like because it's what the big labels push, not because of any particular aspect of the music). I mean sure, all music (and all art) is to some degree formulaic or derivative and is expanding on something/casting something in a new light. But there are ways to do this that are interesting and creative and meaningful. All these top 40 radio pop songs are just so devoid of meaning/value (musically or lyrically).

1

u/cleverkid Apr 17 '13

I agree with you, but here is a little perspective.

As someone who was a pro Dj for over 10 years I found that to most people music is like wallpaper. Nothing less, nothing more. It serves to create an ambiance to their experience. And the second thing is that most people won't 'like' a song until they've been 'told' to like it.

There are a certain percentage of people who are passionate about music. They seek it out, they listen to new and experimental music to find what vibes with them. You may be one of these people, but you can't assume that everyone is like this.

Mindless pop music serves this ( the largest ) segment of society. That doesn't mean it can't be done artfully. But sadly, for every Hall and Oates ( actually a manufactured band too ) there are a hundred Will.I.Am's

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u/In_Liberty Apr 16 '13

You say that as if you wouldn't be ecstatic to make millions by creating music for the masses.

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u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

I'd rather be making my own music under my own name rather than making it for someone else.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

do you have a day job?

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u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

It was hypothetical as in "I'd rather be producing music under my own name then being a ghost producer for a pop artist".

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

I dig. My response was meant as a "Why not both!?"

I think most people who work as ghost producers are probably also working on their own projects during their off-hours, just like I do when I'm not being a 9-to-5 server-monkey.

5

u/Rakielis Apr 16 '13

What if you could make a few tracks for the masses and then use that money to fuel your own music making completely free of outside influence though?

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u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

That would be great. People like Calvin Harris and Afrojack are doing it right. Produce some pop tracks and make a bunch of money and get recognition but also have their own huge careers.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

I don't know if Calvin's doing it right, he's lost a lot of respect and isn't producing house tracks like he used to anymore after his transition. He's taken more the Guetta route. Afrojack is doing it right though.

3

u/Bag3l Apr 16 '13

Eh. Afrojacks music is fun but eh.

2

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

Yeah I don't like his music but he keeps his pop and electronic stuff separate well.

1

u/danc1005 Apr 17 '13

Like Pharrell! Is an awesome producer with tons of collabs, which he then used to fuel N.E.R.D, an awesome (but pretty eclectic) project that never could have existed without his massive mainstream collabos.

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u/ActionIan Koan Sound Apr 16 '13

I know exactly what you're talking about. A few names in particular spring to mind. I don't understand it, and probably never will.

30

u/heyzuess Apr 16 '13

Here's how the conversation goes:

Bad-ass producer: Man I'll never sell out

Music Exec: Hey, will you make the backing track to B.Spears new song?

BAP: hahahahahahahahhahahaha no! I would never sell out

ME: I'll give you this dumpster truck full of $100 bills, +5% of the profits from the song

BAP: Do I get to keep the truck after you empty the $ into my bank account?

ME: Sure whatever...

BAP: Where do I sign?

4

u/you_make_it_easy Apr 16 '13

lol is this what people really think?

7

u/efg1342 Apr 16 '13

It's kinda fun to drive big trucks sometimes...

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

And after signing, the bad-ass producer realizes that the dumpster was actually 3ftx1ftx1f

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u/halfbrainhunter9000 Apr 16 '13

Still a lot of money though.

0

u/empw Apr 16 '13

Can I have this truck instead?

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u/DeFex SoundCloud Apr 16 '13

If its gonna be full of money, you might want this one

3

u/kylepierce11 Hodor Hodor Hodor Apr 16 '13

Only if you autotune everything.

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '13

nigga please, almost all vocals in all genres are pitch corrected. It may not be shitty autotune, melodyne up in this bitch for most electronic producers.

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u/kylepierce11 Hodor Hodor Hodor Apr 17 '13

It was simply a joke. But plenty of artists don't pitch correct at all. Foo Fighters and Death Cab for Cutie come to mind.

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u/[deleted] Apr 17 '13

Do you have a source on that? Not trying to be confrontational, I'm just genuinely interested.

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u/kylepierce11 Hodor Hodor Hodor Apr 17 '13

http://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2009/02/death-cab-takes-stand-against-auto-tune.html

http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2012/02/13/dave_grohl_takes_aim_at_autotune_users

1

u/[deleted] Apr 17 '13

Thank you for posting the links, my personal opinion is that it's okay to pitch-correct on a studio recording because it is made to be perfect, I don't see the difference between using small amounts of pitch-correction on vocals and warping live drums to be more on time, or splicing multiple takes of a guitar piece together rather than trying to play a whole record perfectly in one take. Live, however is different, and I don't think these techniques should be used so that the experience is unique. This is, hwoever, only my personal opinion, and the genre and goal of the artists is relevant to the techniques which should be used.

However I couldn't help but notice from the first article "A little use is OK," Gibbard reiterated, "but there is a difference between 'use' and 'abuse.'" makes me think that some melodyne is used, but not to the extent of artists like T-Pain and william who abuse it.

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u/sighsalot Apr 16 '13

These producers are so ridiculously talented but decide that this is what they want to do with their time and make tons of $$$ doing it.

What's wrong with that? Also, not all of them are "ridiculously talented." Take a look at RedOne (Lady Gaga), most of the Fame was made with Logic presets and wasn't produced that well...

1

u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

You picked on example. I know for a fact that some of the people that work with people like Britney Spears are extremely talented. I don't know their names off the top of my head though.

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u/sighsalot Apr 16 '13

Oh I totally agree! Toxic is one of the best produced tracks I've ever heard, and I love it. I see nothing wrong with producing pop music, it's in some ways more difficult than other genres and it's economically rewarding so you don't have to spend your life on tour.

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u/richardjohn Kraftwerk Computer Apr 16 '13

Bloodshy & Avant are amazing producers. They're Miike Snow now, in case you weren't aware!

2

u/crownboat Apr 16 '13

U mean miike snow?

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u/atticus18244fsas Eric Prydz Apr 16 '13

Dr Luke was one of them I was thinking of:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Luke

Looks like they've worked on a lot of the same high profile tracks though

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

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u/4thekarma Apr 16 '13

I remember reading that in a Rolling Stones article a while back.

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u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

[removed] — view removed comment

5

u/4thekarma Apr 16 '13

I still have respect for Diplo. He's a businessman. He even did advertisements for blackberry. Do I think he's a sellout because of it? Nah, he still makes some sick tunes.

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u/empw Apr 17 '13

Have you heard the new ML album? He hasn't lost shit.

1

u/[deleted] Apr 16 '13

I dont that really matters though. There are better reasons to not like pop other than the fact that ghost producers are used.

1

u/danc1005 Apr 17 '13

The funny thing is that the "artist" (who is credited for this supposed piece of art, a song) in this model is the person who had the least to do with its creation. The term "producer" (for the person who ACTUALLY is responsible for the majority of the song) more accurately represents the song as a product, representing the large-scale manufacturing nature of top 40 pop music.

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u/clydenon Apr 17 '13

Zedd has jumped on this train a little bit. He produced Beauty and a Beat for Justin Bieber. At least it made it easier to listen to the Biebs.