Apparently, and no doubt shockingly, rappers have borrowed someone else’s music yet again…

Borrowed, stolen, or properly sampled is the question that has come into play.  Soul music legend Syl Johnson had the intro of his track ‘Different Strokes’ sampled by Jay-Z and Kanye West in the song ‘The Joy’ that appears on their new album Watch the Throne.  

Jay-Z and Kanye are hoping to leverage the Federal Copyright laws for tracks pre-dating 1972 and show that the song would fall under fair use.  However, Syl doesn’t see it that way and has officially filed a lawsuit again Jay-Z and Kanye, their label, and everyone else involved that he can.  He’s taken on huge artists in the past and obviously isn’t afraid to go to bat for his art.

The whole situation has taken a turn for the worse, and: “This is where it starts to get ugly.  Unfortunately lawyers for Jay-Z and Kanye West are attempting to discredit the claim entirely.  ’Any claim based on the alleged use of Plaintiffs’ recording is barred because, (a) the allegedly copied portion of the Plaintiff’s recording is not part of the musical composition; and, if it is part of the composition, (b) is not protectable and/or (c) any use was de minimus.’ ” according to Paul Resnikoff, the Publisher and Founder of Digital Music News.

Read the rest of his article, When Should a Recording Copyright End? The Throne Battles a Soul Legend…, for the full story and to hear a sample of the two tracks in question side by side, so you can decide for yourself.

I think this situation yet again points to rappers continually sampling illegally from previous artists’ work.  Jay-Z and Kanye can afford to license the music, so why didn’t they do that from the start, or at least do their due diligence to make sure that the track wouldn’t come under fire for infringement?  You would think that a legendary soul artist would at least be owed that, after all by Jay-Z and Kanye including that intro on their track it makes you think that they were paying tribute to the legend and his work.  However, they’ve come up short from a tribute and are now being called thieves…

What’s your take on the legality of this copyright infringement claim?

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The surprises (some pleasant, some not so) of the recent nominees announcement.

After a shameful few years of mediocrity, the Grammys fought back last year, and offered a hint of breaking the mold with the underground band Arcade Fire claiming some big prizes. This caused people of all ages and backgrounds to proclaim their love or ignorance of the platinum-selling band, which was probably more attention than the Grammys had received for some time.

Fast forward to this year, and perhaps they are looking to rock the boat again? Folk rockers Mumford & Sons have more nominations than Lady Gaga. Teen-raver-sensation/dubstep hero Skrillex got more nods than Katy Perry. Other multiple nominees acts include Adele and Kanye West, naturally, but at least we can still say that many of the artists this year have been pursuing their own ideals and not the talentless flash-in-the-pans that have been molded by a pop factory.

Two major individual snubs; My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy wasn’t included for Album of the Year, nor previous Grammy dahling Taylor Swift‘s latest LP, both of which are unusual choices to leave out, given their impact on the sales charts, streaming channels and general music headlines.

Another annoying recent pattern of previous Grammy nominees, until now, was that they really liked… how to put this… ‘the oldies’. No offence, classic albums are great, but to say that the latest Paul Simon or Eagles work is more artistically interesting than their younger counterparts is often outrageous. This too, seems to have been addressed in the 2012 votes.

Whether this is all a ploy to stir up more interest or a genuine shift in voter tastes, we will have to wait and see, but the idea of a more diverse base of artists to reflect a truly diverse year is a nice thought. Not only that, but the way that folk and dubstep can both push artists into the ‘big four’ categories (Record of the Year, Album of the Year, Song of the Year and Best New Artist) is an inspiring thought for independent artists everywhere.

I’ll sign off with one of the nominees for Record of the Year, and definitely one that has a wide appeal, and was only slightly overplayed Adele’s Rolling in the Deep.

The 54th Grammy Awards will be presented on February 12th, 2012. For a full list of all nominees, check out grammy.com/nominees/

by Lee Jarvis.

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The Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival have just announced their main acts for the 2011 event, to be held in Indio, CA over the weekend of April 15th – 17th. Headling the three nights, are Kings of Leon (Fri), Arcade Fire (Sat) and Kanye West (Sun). Also on the bill, heavy hitters such as The Strokes, The Black Keys and one of 2010′s success stories, Mumford & Sons.

The rumormill has been working overtime in the run up to this one, and even Bob Lefsetz aknowledged on Twitter that the real line-up often seeps out at some point. Having said that, we now have the first official statement, and an authentic schedule from Coachella themselves.

The three day event has always aimed to stand out from other US festivals, and has a great reputation of delivering classic acts to a fun crowd. Last year saw 225,000 music lovers descend upon the campsite, and received great reviews from all involved, even despite flight disruptions due to the recent volcanic eruption.

Three-day weekend passes go on sale this Friday (Jan 21) and are priced at $269.00 (plus surcharges). More details on the camping options and all firther info is available at the Coachella website.

Check out the full line up, and a video of one of the headliners and Music Jobs Team faves, Kings of Leon.

(Header Image & Video: Kings of Leon @ Lollapalooza, Chicago, 2009. (c) Lee Jarvis)

by Lee Jarvis.

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Image via NRK P3 on Flickr

Kanye West, love him or hate him, is constantly pushing boundaries. His productions have helped keep hip hop appealing to a new generation, and he is constantly looking for ways to reach people through technology and social media. Pushing the boundaries of being an entertainer, West now comes out with a 35-minute long video called Runaway; an amalgamation of his songs, punctuated with epic, grandiose displays of cinema and downright weird linking segments.

Spending the last year apologising post-MTV VMAs (I’m'a let you finish…!), reflecting, and rebuilding, West has made all the right moves from a career perspective, and genuine or not, his character popularity seems to be back on top. Using new media to his advantage has been a large part of that rebuilding process, to appeal to a skeptical music consumer.

Kanye’s new new album hits the stores next month, and this video will surely serve as a great introduction to the latest release. The long length of the video doesn’t seem to deter people from watching – 2.5 million views are already logged on Vevo, and so maybe he is again reaching a new audience, intrigued to see what he is evolving into this time and drawn to his possible director skills or Bon Iver-sampling music.

Check out the ballet dancers, explosions, sheep, and of course, plenty of Kanye camera-time…

Lee Jarvis.

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Recently there have been quite a few animated “tributes,” per se, of pop stars and some of their hit tunes, and some re-worked versions.

Billboard has called attention to a few, which included Ke$ha’s song “TiK ToK” on the Simpsons, and Kanye’s face off on The Cleveland Show. Also, will.i.am was given a not-so-flattering tribute on the season premiere of The Boondocks. The episode focused on all the celebrity hype surrounding President Barack Obama’s election back in 2008, and it featured a music video with a cartoon likeness of Black Eyed Peas front-man. The song took the beat of “It’s a New Day,” which will.i.am released after Obama was elected President, and added surprisingly catchy (yet, NSFW) lyrics.”

On the Sunday night episode of The Simpsons the song “TiK ToK” has the entire cast appearing throughout the song for the opening credits, obviously replacing the regular theme. The song is sung by Ke$ha throughout, with various characters ‘lip synching’ along to it. It’s extremely entertaining and crazy all at the same time. I’m sure it caught all of the viewers’ attention as it did mine – it was definitely an unexpected yet cool twist. It’s amazing to see all the different ways pop culture keeps ebbing into our lives in different facets.

After the Simpsons came The Cleveland Show. In the episode Cleveland Jr. takes on Kanye West, after supposedly hitting on Kanye’s girl. (more…)

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There has been a lot of good music on the US office stereo over Thanksgiving and into the Xmas season, and being fans of streaming and sharing new music, we thought we’d create our own Imeem profile and share our office jams on the blog! Welcome to the first of (we hope) many Music Jobs Playlists, featuring Friendly Fires, Chromeo, MSTRKRFT and more. Feel free to comment here and get in touch via Imeem.

To Play All the tracks in full, click here:

Music Jobs Team playlist 001: US Office December 2009 (Compiled by Lee Jarvis)