Paul McCartney is widely known as the Panda Bear of the popular band The Beatles. While he is widely respected, many question some of his business and life decisions. He 'pissed away' the rights to the Beatles master tracks, gives away his samples like candy, and even made ill-advised personal life decisions, such as going vegan + marrying a 'one legged gold digger.' Because he is a Beatles, most of these massive mistakes are 'forgiven', since the Beatles have produced some of the best mp3s of all time.

Recently, he 'gave away a sample' from a Wings song to Erykah Bady, the ex-lover of Andre 3000 who has made 'critically acclaimed' albums in recent years.

Here is the quickest summary of this marketable ordeal:

Pitchfork reports on an exchange initiated by Erykah Badu on TwitterTwitterTwitter, seeking last-minute clearance for a sample from the Wings song “Arrow Through Me.” Looking to connect with Paul McCartney, she appealed to anyone who might help connect her to him or a closer contact in the chain.

Following the stream of tweets, it looks like Badu got a hookup to Lenny Kravitz, who knows McCartney’s daughter Stella, who then connected her to Paul. He approved the sample clearance and she thanked her “Twitter fam” for making the clearance come together.

This seems like an uplifting story, justifying the utilization of social networks + technology for 'something good.' The lost story is the fact that Paul McCartney should have 'shafted' this request, protecting the music that he made. Many young artists are capitalizing off the work of legends, so many think it is time for the 'old guard' to stand up for themselves' instead of continuing to be taken advantage of.

Many feel like McCartney gave up tons of emotional and financial capital when he married his one-legged wife Heather Mills.

Even though this seems like a 'good story' to make him seem 'cool' to young people, we have to assume that young people would have appreciated his song more in the original context.

Would it have been 'more alt' to use the sample without clearing it? [via the chillwave movement]
Is Erykah Badu 'alt'/'indie', or should she only be covered on 'black websites/magazines'?
Has Paul McCartney 'pissed away' billions of dollars by not protecting his the rights of his music?
Will there be a 'backlash' against the Beatles? [via Beatles Rock Band]
Is twitter a legitimate social tool that is changing the world 4 the better?