You rarely hear anyone cover the Beastie Boys. Is it because their songs rely so much on samples that they’re impossible to recreate legally without making a profit? How did they not get sued into oblivion with hundreds of samples used? Where do those royalties go today?

  • HobbitFoot @thelemmy.club
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    3 days ago

    But would a cover require the original score?

    There was a famous remix of Jay-Z’s Black Album called the Gray Album that used Jay-Z’s vocals against samples from the Beatles’ White Album. It is possible that a full cover could include both new vocals and a new set of samples.

    There are also cases where the sampled track can be played by live musicians. A lot of work produced by Dr. Dre can be performed by a live funk band; this was shown in his Super Bowl Halftime show. Some Beastie Boys songs had the group play as a band.