Many of Jason Derulo’s songs
benefit greatly
from the sampling of other songs.
Sampling is fraught with legal issues.
It can be a long process
to get permission to sample a song.
There’s a big risk
that the artist will say no.
So when in the development process
does Jason Derulo ask permission
(or ‘clear’ the sample)?
When it works.
As he says,
“If the whole song’s not great,
it makes no sense to clear it.”
Keep in mind though
that there are low(ish) development costs
to get a song to the working stage.
The higher the development costs,
the earlier you should look
into gaining permission.