Showtek Accuses Flosstradamus of "stealing their tunes" over Twitter
/Flosstradamus latest hardstyle infused 'X' EP, which is available for free, has apparently landed them in hot water with Showtek accusing them over Twitter for stealing a sample from one of their tracks:
This is what you get guys @flosstradamus when you sample one of our tracks we produced. recalled to lifeyoutu.be/gOUvy8nlTdE
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 4, 2012
These cheap @flosstradamus cunts are stealing our tunes and putting it online for free!! this is the second time!!!! How low can you go?!!
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 8, 2012
And we are doing this in public because they already did it last year and now again! #fb
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 8, 2012
@djheadhunterz @flosstradamus haha yeah but at least call it à bootleg dont steal complete melodys and vocal samples and name it your own
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 8, 2012
But nough said ;-) we are proud if people sample our stuff, but if you dont ask , its stealing.otherwise i would sample every Coldplay track
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 8, 2012
Flosstradamus responds:
@showtekmusic I sampled your shit because I like it. don't hate... collaborate.
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@flosstradamus) October 8, 2012
Ask first!!!! RT @flosstradamus: @showtekmusic I sampled your shit because I like it. don't hate... collaborate.
— Showtek (@showtekmusic) October 8, 2012
@showtekmusic ok, can I use your music?
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@flosstradamus) October 8, 2012
Flosstradamus started retweeting fans with counter-arguments while receiving a lot of hate from the Hardstyle community which allegedly included two death threats:
lol RT @propervillainy: @flosstradamus And the situation with hardstyle producers n Nas accapellas is like the pot callin' the kettle black.
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@flosstradamus) October 8, 2012
I love that our fans are making valid points and all these hardstylerz just keep calling us "faggots" lol
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@flosstradamus) October 8, 2012
Already got two death threats haha we're from Chicago... that shit doesn't scare us haha
— FLOSSTRADAMUS (@flosstradamus) October 8, 2012
I'm not at all an expert on this hot topic but while reading about this Twitter flare up it reminded me of a piece Kaskade wrote about the politics of Mash-ups which I found appropriate:
"The politicking of a mash up is nothing new. Hip Hop has been having this conversation since its inception. Sampling other people’s work comes with a price. And it makes sense on one hand - why wouldn’t you compensate someone who created something you’re using? A writer can’t just plagiarize another writer and call it inspiration. An artist can’t cut and paste other artwork and claim it as their own. Why would the rules in music be any different? Calling it a mash up, a tribute, a homage or a remix: does it even matter?
I can tell you that it does. But the devil is in the details, and comes down to intent.
.....When I bring them [Mash-ups] out, I’m certainly not claiming that they are my brainchild alone and in fact always always give credit to every artist involved." (Source: Kaskade's Tumblr)
Maybe Headhunterz polite request is the most apt response of them all:
@evilactivities @showtekmusic @flosstradamus Dear Flosstradamus, next time you sample hardstyle, can you please give us some credits? Thanks
— Headhunterz (@djheadhunterz) October 8, 2012
Hopefully issues like this can be avoided in the future.