Remixing and sampling pre-existing songs has become a big part of making music these days, but it's also a gray area for copyright. While for some artists it may be an honor to have their work used in a brand new creation, the original copyright holders need compensation for their work when it's borrowed. This is where a company such as the startup Remix Hits might come in.
Remix Hits is a Nashville, Tenn.-based company that has developed a technology for identifying even small snippets of copyrighted music that has been used in a new recording, even if the sample has been heavily modified. But they also developed a licensing platform so those who want to sample copyrighted material in their own work can pre-purchase licenses to use the music legally. It does this by selling the stems, or elements of a song, such as vocals, guitar, synth, or percussion.
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The company recently closed a deal with Sony Music to license stems from their catalog, which provides an avenue for those looking for remix or sample a song to do so legally and give the original copyright holder compensation. However, musicians must release their new creations through Remix Hits Platform distribution service.
While there are still questions about how this service will work, including whether or not music created using Remix Hits-purchased stems can be sold or released outside their platform, and how much of Sony's extensive catalog will be available for licensing, it could provide a much-needed solution for unauthorized sampling and remixing.
