As many readers have pointed out, primary audiences for dance music are often unconcerned with originality when getting down so long as what’s playing is groovy. This fact has been capitalized upon thousands of times the less scrupulous or inspired producers, especially in times where sampling is particularly en vogue. We mention this not to debate the merits of sampling more generally (although someone could have a field day dissecting all the sample-based house music flowing out of the Wolf+Lamb camp alone), but rather how accepted it’s become for artists to replicate high profile tunes for their own gain.

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Just months after Alex Kenji and Frederico Scavoused were busted for passing off integral portions of Paperclip People’s “Throw” as their own track, Giacomo Godi and Emiliano Nencioni have been caught with their hands in the KMS back catalog for their track “Beat Me Back.” Its foundational melodic element is swiped wholesale from Reese & Santonio’s “The Sound,” just pitched up and ensconced in skippy percussion. That they sampled Kevin Saunderson’s 1987 big hit isn’t a damnable offense; it’s that they didn’t have the imagination to do anything beyond using it in the exact same manner as the original. Even Todd Terry, who recycled the same progression for his 1988 track “Back To the Beat,” had the decency to arrange it differently and add a bevy of samples. Saunderson’s response to their profiteering has been spot on: making the original available for free and calling out the culprits. The duo’s excuse, that they thought it was a free sample, acknowledges just how little they put into their track. Audiences may not make a stink about these sorts of matters in the heat of the moment, but they should at least avoid rewarding plagiarists with their money when buying music.

Download: Reese & Santonio, “The Sound”