· By Bas Lefeber
Sampling is foundational to music production. Hip-hop was literally built on it. House music lives on sampled vocal hooks. Pop producers sample melodies and textures from every era. But sampling someone else's recording without permission is copyright infringement. It doesn't matter if it's 2 seconds or 20. It doesn't matter if you pitched it, chopped it, or buried it in the mix. If you release it commercially without clearance, you're taking a legal risk. Here's every legal option available in 2026, from cheapest to most expensive. Option 1: Use Royalty-Free Samples (Easiest) The simplest path. Royalty-free samples come with a...
· By Bas Lefeber
Copyright confuses most producers. There's a lot of bad advice floating around — from "mail yourself a copy" (doesn't work) to "you need to copyright your beat before sending it to anyone" (not how it works). Here's what you actually need to know as a music producer in 2026. Your Music Is Already Copyrighted This is the most important thing to understand: copyright exists the moment you create something original and fix it in a tangible form. The second you record a beat, write a melody, or lay down a vocal — it's copyrighted. Automatically. No registration required. You don't...
· By Bas Lefeber
AI can now generate a vocal that sounds almost human. Tools like Suno, Udio, and various voice cloning platforms produce singing vocals from a text prompt. Type a few words, pick a style, and you get a vocal track in seconds. So why are producers still buying human vocals? Because "almost human" isn't the same as human. And in commercial music production, the gap between "good enough" and "release-ready" is where careers and royalties live. Here's an honest comparison of where things stand in 2026. What AI Vocals Can Do in 2026 Let's give credit where it's due. AI vocal...