įor Drake’s song Pound Cake, (featured on his 2013 album, Nothing Was the Same), Drake samples Jimmy Smith’s spoken word record, “Jimmy Smith Rap,” to creatively allude to his own album’s recording process and add commentary on the longevity of “real music.” Drake’s label obtained the recording license of “Jimmy Smith Rap,” but not the composition license. sheet music) and the license for the original sound recording. There are normally two licenses that are required for a sample clearance: the license for the original musical composition (i.e. When it comes to sampling in music, artists and producers must go through a structural process of obtaining licenses to incorporate other works into their own. All that other bullsh** is here today and gone tomorrow…”Įarlier this year, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed a major decision holding recording artist Aubrey “Drake” Graham’s sampling of Jimmy Smith as fair use.