Soundcloud is prohibiting my most recent upload, because a few of my selections were copyrighted music.

First, I was not allowed to upload my latest mix because of a track on Ninja Tune; DJ Vadim’s “Getting Friendly”. Two things to note, here. First, “Getting Friendly” is actually a sample Vadim took from some old tyme audio tutorial on how to appreciate music. You know, probably made in the 50’s, for elementary school kids. Second, what did my friend Vadim say, upon hearing of this? “Wow. Crazy. Don’t know anything about that! Sorry! It wasn’t me!!!!”. Of course, I knew it wasn’t him—-sampling is an integral part of Vadim’s productions. I also knew that him permitting me to use the 20 second track would do nothing, because Ninja Tune ‘owns it’. It makes me wonder how many hours of work it would take for me to get permission to use that track, if I went through the proper channels. 

I assumed that this upload freeze was triggered by my text, as I had listed artist name and song title. So, taking baby steps, I removed the text, but did not change the audio file. I still had the same problem, which lead me to believe that once flagged for copyrighted material, they detect whether or not the audio file was changed. So, I changed the audio file, assuming that this would be the end of my problems. Nope! On my third attempt, uploading was frozen again, for a track off of Amulet Records, by Billy Martin, aka Illy B Eats. That’s when I called it quits, and started this post. 

I suspect this particular type of monitoring is newly employed at Soundcloud, as my posts in the past have been speckled with copyrighted material from time to time. Perhaps they were from much smaller labels than Ninja Tune or Amulet (which is pretty small, to begin with), so the red flag did not go up over at Soundcloud. 

Either way, it’s tough to see happen——I’m in personal contact the majority of musicians I feature, yet those connections and permissions are meaningless, in the realm of for profit record companies, and the ‘system’. No problem, Ninja Tune, Amulet, and any other record company who chooses to act like Metallica when it comes to their record sales. I’m looking forward, past the antiquated mechanics of the record industry, and you’re choosing to silence a public radio show from showcasing your output. To put it another way, you’re putting a muzzle on free, positive PR. Whether it’s a radio show, or a bedroom dj, you’re shooting yourself in the foot, business wise. New sound and art are at the core of your operation, I still feel, so you probably don’t want to give off the image that the sale is at the core. I feel it’s sink or swim for some of you record companies. It might be counter-intuitive, but I suggest you swim. Do it for your art, and the money will follow.