what do companies actually mean when they say "no samples" on submissions?

[stateofpsychosis]

Hi,
I'm sick of not knowing what they mean when companies say something like "no samples" on an opportunity submission on sites like musicxray.

do they mean no plugins like east west or do they mean no remixes of other people's material?
It would make no sense to say we're not allowed to use plugins like east west and vienna. If you own them it should be fine to use them and if you know what you're doing they sound very real. Not many people can afford to get that many instruments or musicians on one track so using sampling plugins is a must for orchestral music.

Samples can mean both plugins or remixing other people's material so I have no idea which one they mean.
I choose to not submit to opportunities all of the time because of this
so it would be a big help to know once and for all what they really mean by that.

thanks in advance.

[BertKoor]

They probably mean "no uncleared samples" (if you know what that means) because they don't want to bother with clearing those. I don't blame them, it's a hell of a job....

[stateofpsychosis]

yea but fine if it's something like a plugin like east west that you own
see I'm still too reluctant to submit to these opportunities though

I really wish they'd either just say "real recorded instruments only" or "original material only"
so that we knew for sure right.

[thecontrolcentre]

It's pretty obvious they mean no "uncleared samples" ... if you're still not sure then I'd say contact the individual companies and ask them to clarify.

[stateofpsychosis]

I'm pretty sure you're right

I can't really contact the companies without making a submission
I might just do one and mention the confusion in the message that I can send along with the submission for clarification in a very professional way of course.


thanks for the help

Michael

[stateofpsychosis]

i was just talking to someone else who submits to the same companies and they agree with you guys. Seems they've never had a problem with that even though they use plugins that use samples.

I figured. It'd be crazy to not allow any plugins that use them cause pretty well every piece of music these days has some even when people record most of their tracks with real instruments.

[cryophonik]

Hi,
I'm sick of not knowing what they mean when companies say something like "no samples"...

It would be more helpful if you posted the exact text that they used. Saying "...something like..." isn't very useful to us because the slightest change in the choice of words can substantially change the intended meaning. I would assume that the service terms are available to you before you submit anything - read it to see exactly what it says regarding the use of sampled material.

[stateofpsychosis]

sorry they list it differently every time so I went with general.

the one specifically i was asking about said: "Please submit sample free original recordings"

[pljones]

the one specifically i was asking about said: "Please submit sample free original recordings"

Taken literally, that would exclude any sampled instruments, of course... They want you to be the person (legal entity...) who recorded every sound you submit...

Equally arguably, "original recordings" could mean "unmixed, unmastered". So it's just plain badly worded.

[stateofpsychosis]

agreed

I'm just glad for the clarification
and most of them seem to learn towards meaning no uncleared samples so it's good news overall.

thanks again