# Stolen from Chud.com: Could "Paul's Boutique" be made today?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [November 24, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501 "2004-11-24T18:13:39Z")
**Posts on this page:** 7
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/1 "2004-11-24T18:13:39Z")
I found this discussion on the [Chud.com](http://Chud.com) boards, and even though it hasn’t yet gotten many replies, I thought it interesting enough to pose here. I take no credit for the OP, but I wanted to discuss with others:
> [@Diva from Chud.com](#):
>
> I was having this discussion with friends the other day. Paul’s Boutique is loaded with samples and references from so many other songs that if any song from this album played on the radio, they would owe tons of cash for royalty fees.
>
> On the one hand, I’m glad it costs so much to sample because artists have gotten so lazy (for lack of a better word) these days, they’re sampling songs that are barely a year old. On the other hand, Paul’s Boutique didn’t just simply sample beats for background beats, they interwove them into the story and used samples as a type of instrument to put together elaborate melodies.
>
> So could a Paul’s Boutique-type record be made today? And if so, would you want it to?
It’s an interesting concept. I’d go one further – since **Paul’s Boutique** was SUCH a huge departure from the Beastie Boys’ mega-smash **License to Ill** , is it feasible that many record companies would allow an album like Paul’s to even see release? Beyond the infectious “Hey Ladies,” there’s very little single-potential on the album.
I’d say that this album might have never been released, had it been conceived today. Too prohibitively expensive and too much a departure from previous work to be economically feasible.
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### Author:  [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/2 "2004-11-24T18:50:00Z")
[As Heard On Radio Soulwax, Part 2](http://www.2manydjs.org/v2/trackby.htm) was a moderate success for Belgian indie band _Soulwax_ (aka DJs _2 Many DJs_). That and an album by Australian band _The Avalanches_ might just about qualify as similar (in samples, if not sound).
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/3 "2004-11-24T19:13:05Z")
While the major labels wouldn’t go for it, some of the smaller ones would be a little more supportive.
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### Author:  [@Chastain86](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chastain86)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/4 "2004-11-24T19:20:17Z")
> [@ultrafilter](#):
>
> While the major labels wouldn’t go for it, some of the smaller ones would be a little more supportive.
Sure, but we’re still talking about a multi-platinum selling group, and one that was locked into a contract. The record company (Capitol, in this case) ended up being very cool about it, but they didn’t promote or push **Boutique** , presumably because it was a concept album.
Contrast that to today, where record companies are less likely to allow a group to indulge themselves with concepts, and look solely to the bottom line. I’m not sure **Paul’s** could have been made today, thanks entirely to the “squeeze out the single and hype it to the roof” industry mentality that’s so pervasive these days. The company might have required a completely different remix, or even the halt of production until “that single” was written and recorded.
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/5 "2004-11-24T19:25:10Z")
Would the Beasties be signed to a major label these days if they were just starting out?
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### Author:  [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/6 "2004-11-24T19:46:16Z")
> [@Chastain86](#):
>
> Sure, but we’re still talking about a multi-platinum selling group, and one that was locked into a contract. The record company (Capitol, in this case) ended up being very cool about it, but they didn’t promote or push **Boutique** , presumably because it was a concept album.
Two words: American Idiot
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### Author:  [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)
#### Post date: [November 24, 2004, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stolen-from-chud-com-could-pauls-boutique-be-made-today/276501/7 "2004-11-24T19:52:37Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#):
>
> Two words: American Idiot
Not quite the same. _American Idiot_ is Green Day’s sixth major-label album, and came after their greatest hits package, which I don’t think sold too badly. To add to that, it was pretty much in line with what’s come before, if not entirely. _Paul’s Boutique_ was the Beasties’ second album, and it was a radical departure from _License To Ill_.