Top Hip-Hop Producer Timbaland Accused of Stealing Music

Music blogs and web sites are racing with the accusation that hip-hop producer Timbaland (aka Tim Mosley) has used verbatim a 16-bar sequence from a track by Finnish musician Janne Sunni for the Nelly Furtado hit “Do It”. Timbaland is one of the most successful producers of the last 10 years, instrumental in the careers of Missy Elliott and Justin Timberlake, and now Nelly Furtado. At a time when the music industry is desperately trying to stem the rise of free p2p music sharing and suing people for doing so, this is bad news.

The controversy centres around “Acid Jazzed Evening” by Tempest , a piece originally composed in 2000 on the Commodore 64 for the Old Skool Music Competition in Finland. The Commodore’s sound is distinctive and allegedly this particular sound, as well as the bass line, melody, and chord progression, is exactly the same on “Do It”. A video on You Tube graphically shows the similarities of the two tracks.



Compounding the outrage is the discovery that Timbaland also used the track (named “Block Party”) in 2005 as part of an exclusive promotion by ringtone provider Zingy with AOL. Again, the video is on You Tube.



According to hearsay, Sunni isn’t going to pursue it because he doesn't want to go through the "time-consuming and horrible" process of a legal suit.

Whether Timbaland knew of “Acid Jazzed Evening” is so far unknown. He could have bought it from a sample library or one of his assistants could have brought it to him. He may be innocent of knowing the sample’s history.

But the perception of theft is what’s important. The music industry has been calling p2p music sharers thieves and suing individuals in a high-profile manner. Universal CEO Doug Morris claims all iPod owners “are thieves”. Three days ago the RIAA arrested DJ Drama for creating mixtapes that used uncleared samples in mashups. When a music industry professional as big and important as Timbaland is perceived to be stealing, the cries of hypocrisy ring very loud.

Here’s a sample of comments from joystiq and Rolling Stone.com:

-- I'm disgusted by this whole thing. It would be one thing if they wrote Tempest a check for it and credited him on the album for the original composition, but it appears they didn't do anything of the sort.Pathetic. Down with Nelly Furtado. Down with Timbaland. Down with whatever their label is.

-- You know, record companies get to pull this kind of stuff all the time with zero remorse and punishment…Just remember this shit the next time you buy a CD and they have a pamphlet about piracy.

-- Stealing music to listen to for yourself cannot be compared with stealing music to publish as your own and make millions…One man has done the work while the other one receives the money. In combination of the “copy kills music” campaigns of the major labels on markets worldwide this sounds just wrong. Remember that the RIAA is sueing people for “sharing” music over p2p without having financial profits.

Either they sue people and credit original artists, or they let people “steal” their music and do the same with other people’s music. You cannot pick the best from both booths.

-- “So go sue him” I hear the defenders say. Tempest can’t. Why? Record labels like Geffen have teams of lawyers ready to chew up and spit out anyone who dares cross their path. It may be different in your part of the world, but in the American judicial system, he who has the most money is the winner. Tempest doesn’t have the money to fight this out because Geffen’s lawyers will delay every phase of the case in order to drive up Tempest’s legal fees. This is a VERY common tactic in the music industry when “nobodies” try to challenge those at the top.

Others see the situation as just one more reason why hip hop sucks; is artistically dead; is based on stealing so who cares?

Not pretty, is it? This is the music that, according to Def Jam creator Russell Simmons, drives 25% of all American music spending.

For years I’ve heard music industry people say ‘we need to teach people the value of music.’ Well here’s a perfect opportunity.

A smart label would move quickly and publicly to credit Sunni, but as publisher Chris Abbott says in a very knowledgeable review of the situation, “a knee-jerk reaction is what you'd expect from a company which finds its reputation and money under threat.” Abbott is well-placed to understand the nuances of the accusation and concludes that Timbaland knows what he did. It doesn’t help that a video interview with him shows an essential piece of equipment for sampling Commodore 64 tracks.

If the music industry wants the public to respect IP and copyrights, then they need to do the same. As the commenter said, you can’t have the best from both booths.