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What is the state of sampling in 2019? A new report explains what’s going on.

February 12, 2019February 12, 2019 Alan Cross 0 Comments

TrackLib is a service that allows creators of music to discover and license original recordings for use as samples in new compositions. They’ve just released their first-ever State of Sampling report.

Here are a few top-line stats:

One in five songs on Billboard’s Top 100 contained some kind of sample.
Kanye West released 42 songs in 2018. They featured samples from 53 different songs.
It’s not just pop and rap performers who use samples. About 8% of last year’s biggest rock songs featured samples. Examples include Panic! at the Disco using James Brown and Death Cab for Cutie sampling Yoko Ono.
Two-thirds of all albums released in 2018 contain samples.
What gets sampled? The most popular samples come from songs that were big in the composer’s childhood (i.e. ages 5-10).
ZERO songs from the 70s were sampled for last years’s Hot 100.
70& of samples are taken from vinyl or CDs.
One of the strangest samples from last year: a BMW i8 seatbelt warning chime for XXXTentacion’s “SAD!” That song has been streamed 1.5 billion times.

For more on the report, go here.