Tuesday 2 August 2022

Diddy Pays Sting $2,000 a Day For a Sample He Used in the ’90s










Rapper and record executive Sean “Diddy” Combs rose to prominence in the 1990s alongside his good friend, The Notorious B.I.G. After Biggie’s death, Diddy paid tribute to the “Hypnotize” rapper with his own song. But the Sting song that it sampled continues to cost him money to this day.


Diddy sampled The Police’s ‘Every Breath You Take’ for his song ‘I’ll Be Missing You’

The Notorious B.I.G.’s death in 1997 rocked the music industry and let to an outpouring of condolences for his loved ones. That same year, Diddy — who went by Puff Daddy at the time — released “I’ll Be Missing You,” a heartfelt tribute to Biggie featuring R&B group 112 and his ex-wife, Faith Evans. The song won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group and spent 11 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.


The song famously samples The Police’s 1983 hit “Every Breath You Take.” Sampling had become a common practice in hip-hop (thanks in part to artists like Biggie), but laws around sampling remained unclear.


Diddy never cleared the sample with The Police, leading to some frustration from the band’s members and some financial difficulties for Diddy. 


Diddy didn’t ask to sample the song, so he owes Sting $2,000 a day for the song

If Diddy had asked permission to sample The Police’s iconic song, he likely would have only had to pay 25 percent of the publishing royalties. But because of copyright law, Sting — the group’s frontman — was able to claim 100 percent of the royalties.



Source : cheatsheet.com




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