A sample uses the original recording. An interpolation re-creates a melody or a lyric from another song with your own voice and instruments. The second one avoids the need for permission from whoever owns the recording, but it doesn't avoid the need for permission from whoever wrote the song. Singing it yourself doesn't make it yours.
Sample and interpolation in plain terms
A sample is a piece of the original audio copied into your track: a vocal line, a drum break, a guitar riff. You can hear the original artist's actual performance.
An interpolation, often called a replay, is when you rebuild part of a song yourself. You play the riff with your own guitarist, or you sing the original melody or lyric in your own voice. No audio from the original recording is in your track.
An example: Elvin Rza writes a new beat and sings the chorus melody of an older song over it. That is an interpolation. If he instead lifts two seconds of the old singer's voice from the recording and loops it, that is a sample.
Don't confuse an interpolation with a cover. A cover performs the whole song more or less as it is. An interpolation takes a piece of it into a new song with new music around it. Both need the songwriters' side to be settled, but many countries have simpler licensing routes for plain covers, while a song that builds on someone's melody often needs direct approval.
What permission each one needs
Every song has two layers: the composition (melody and lyrics, owned by the writers and usually their publishers) and the master (the recording, owned by the label or the artist who made it).
- A sample needs a master licence from the owner of the recording and a composition licence from the writers or publishers for the part you use.
- An interpolation needs only the composition licence, because you didn't use the recording.
The composition licence is still required because the melody and lyrics are protected. There is no magic number of seconds or notes that makes copying safe. A generic chord progression or a very short, common phrase is usually not protected on its own, but a recognisable melodic hook or a line of lyrics is. If listeners hear your track and think "that's that song", you're in interpolation territory.
Interpolation is often the simpler route, because you negotiate with one group of owners instead of two. The master owner is often a label, and labels can be slow. You also control the tempo, the key and the sound. But it isn't automatic. The owners can refuse, or they can ask for a large share, because the part you borrowed may be the heart of the song.
How credits and splits usually look
There is no standard formula, but the pattern is familiar.
- Credits: the writers of the original song are credited as songwriters of your new track, next to your own credit. For a sample, the master owner usually also gets a credit line.
- Splits: the share is negotiated and depends on how central the borrowed part is. A whole chorus is worth more than one line. Deals can be a percentage of the composition, a flat fee, or both, sometimes with an advance.
- The agreement: get it in writing before release. It should state the shares, the credit wording, the countries it covers and how long it lasts.
When you submit the release, list every writer and their role in the credits. Some forms ask whether the track contains samples or third-party material, and you should answer honestly. In the CULT portal you add the credits yourself, and you confirm that you own or hold permission for all the audio and materials you submit, which includes any composition you interpolate.
Steps to clear an interpolation
- Find the writers and publishers: check the credits of the original release and the databases of rights organisations in the country.
- Contact the publishers before you release and before you promote the song.
- Explain the use: which part, whether you change the lyrics, and that it will be a commercial release. A short demo helps.
- Negotiate the split or fee, and get a written licence.
- Add the credits to the metadata and keep the paperwork.
- Wait for the answer. If nobody responds, don't release the song anyway.
A folk melody may be old enough to be free to use, but a particular arrangement, translation or recording of it might still be protected, and the time it takes for rights to expire depends on the country. Check before you assume.
What happens if you skip this
Publishers can claim a composition on YouTube and other platforms, take the release down or demand a share. Releasing first and asking later gives them the leverage, and the terms you get afterwards are usually worse than the terms you'd have agreed beforehand. It can also put your account and your other releases at risk.
None of this is legal advice, and the details change from country to country. For a release you care about, ask a music lawyer to look at the agreement. The cost is small next to a takedown of a song that already has listeners.