From the blow Nicki Minaj AND Ice Spice Barbie world To Bittersweet goodbye From Issy CrossSummer playlists across the English Channel (but not only) are filled with songs that use more or less recognizable samples. According to analysis published by BBC Newsbeat, one in four songs in the English top 40 contains samples.
This data, maintained by the whosampled.com website, also includes: Paint the town redFrom Doya Cat (what sample Pass byfirst published Dionne Warwick in 1964), Bow takes you right back to the nineties in its Closer paraphrasing the ethereal Children Robert Miles, or again Charlie XCX than in his Barbie song High speed drive not only quotes Hey Mickey From Tony Basil but also Kobrastyle From Robin. Even if the funniest case remains the above Bittersweet goodbye: Recently charted, the track is an orchestration Sweet and Sour Symphony belonging Inspiration (this was 1997), in turn built on iconic samples Lately belonging rolling stone. In short, there seems to be a huge fascination with the sound of the last millennium, especially the 90s style. A completely modern way of discovering and reinterpreting the hits of the past by a new generation of musicians, artists, advertisers, influencers… (remember the “case” of Fleetwood Mac or even Stranger Things and its soundtrack).
Second Jason Greena Pitchfork journalist gave an interview to the BBC, but partly everything is much more interesting.
His investigation (published by an American newspaper) began with so-called “music publishing companies” – a fairly new activity that has gained even more popularity during the pandemic. In the United States, two of these companies acquired the rights to dozens and dozens of songs by such legendary artists as Bob Marley, Prince, James Brown and Whitney Houston. Jason contacted his bosses and found that companies immediately began looking to market the material in hopes that it would be reused. If this happens, then, of course, companies will make money on royalties. The songs being sold are obviously already known to people: a mechanism that works very well in the listener’s brain:
It’s like it taps into the node in our lizard brain that identifies what we already love. And that’s why this song seems more interesting to you than something you’ve never heard before. This is good for business, but potentially less useful for creativity. Since everyone already knows them… no one needs to work to introduce a new entity, a new voice.
Jason Green
The real way to capitalize on retromania is through acquisitions and special marketing campaigns organized by companies more like record labels or advertising agencies than publishing houses that own the rights. Green’s article appeared on Pitchfork in April of this year.