Soo happy that he got his name in front of Uptown Funk instead of just deciding to be a ghost producer and make it a "Bruno Mars" track. People like him are pivotal in bringing good changes to pop music.

His accent is the most curious mix of New York and British I've ever heard

Ive never seen a musician hate on sampling, its always the random listeners who never done music before that thinks sampling is stealing 🤦🏻‍♀️

This audience needs to be like 20 years younger

I had no idea this guy could speak this well. He put together a great presentation.

Mark Ronson is an underrated genius. A true, versatile musician. Adapts ALL styles to his own and this is a rare quality in dj/producer/musicians.

Mark Ronson is by far one of the most underrated musicians of our century! What a brilliant man

He's so charismatic in a particular way I would not have expected from him just trying to imagine what a Diplo TED talk would look and sound like compared to this

You may not like Mark Ronson, but you cannot deny he is talented and pays respect to those who came before him. I've seen people complain that he comes from a privileged background thus making his accomplishments without work, but I disagree. Yes, he had opportunities others may not, but he has used those opportunities to learn and work. I don't like all of his music but I cannot say it's all terrible. Look at his work with Amy Winehouse, for example. He has an eclectic taste that allows for interesting music. Anyway, Mark is obviously talented and very aware of the music scene past and present. I respect him for that.

Damn the beats with the TED talk song... LIT

Easily one of my favorite Ted talks ever, and I’ve listened to a lot of them. Ronson talks about music and the way it affects him, the way it makes him feel, but with such precision and articulate style it makes you do a double take. I know his name from some of the songs he’s worked on - now I’m going to go looking for his music. Thanks to Ted for treating us to this talk.

Damn, this almost made me cry it was so beautiful. I'm now a Mark Ronson fan. Way to go man!

How is he 40 years old? If I didn't see his bio, I would think he just graduated from a college.

Watching someone making music live like this makes me appreciate musicians so much more. A lot of people like to make fun of it with the whole "Oh, you play the macbook?" argument, but it takes skill to do what he's doing. Not only do you have to be musically minded, you have to be able to think outside the box to make music with unconventional means.

"I can sort of bully our existences into a shared event." Love that quote.

I just love how humble he is.

Damn, who thought Ronson had chops like that on the decks? That dude is an amazing producer, his drums are fucking so sick but I didn't know he was legit on wheels. Respect!

A very confident and engaging speaker. Somewhat surprised me.

11:58 Hahaha it really is true, Mark became a Miley fan in 2014 after seeing her in SNL and stalked her to get to do "Nothing Breaks Like A Heart" together, now he's doing her album! I'm in heaven!

This was quite brilliant... I had no idea he was so diverse and well spoken. Impressed.

I have a new respect for ronson. he scratches and uses an mpc and knows the history of music.

OH COMON PEOPLE CLAP!! Every time this guy does something new there is this awkward silence where we normally expect these people to clap and no-one here even bothers! He did an awesome job here, I never knew he could be this good! What a boring crowd, ergh.

"Every artist is a cannibal, Every poet is a thief, They all kill their inspiration, And then sing about the grief" - Bono, From "the Fly", U2. "It's not stealing, it's retrieving" - Mora Early "One can steal ideas, but no one can steal execution or passion." - Tim Ferris Hey, it's not only in music that you can do a little bit of "remixing" of other people's thoughts, you know.

Holy crap, that first segment when he made that beat from TED music is LIT 00:25-01:15

Wow, so many annoying comments on this video. Let me just make something clear here. I'm a self-taught multi-instrumentalist myself(guitar, keyboard, drums), I've played and worked with musicians from all sorts genres, from heavy metal to indian classical music and so many things in between. Being exposed to all these different creative thought processes you start to expand your understanding of music as well, and something I've realised is, there is no good music and bad music, there's music that you "get" and music that you "don't get" yet. This is the reason having an open mind is so important to being creative, it allows you to see why something is appealing to other humans, and then see what your take on it can be. Sampling can be seen as one way of doing this. Suppose I like an tamil folk drum beat and want to have that feel in a song that I'm making, I could either find a musician, take him to the studio, make him play what I want, and then record it and use the recorded piece or I could spend time, learn how to play the instrument, then record it and then use that, or I could spend a lot of time listening to a lot of tamil folk music searching for the type of drum beat that you want, clear the sample, then use the sample. The end product, that is, the track, isn't going to be all that different in all of the cases, yet each one of the methods will take you on completely different journeys, each one just as legit as the other, with the session musician, you'll get to know about the person and his community, in the second case, you get to learn a new instrument, or in the final case, where you sample the beat, the countless hours spent researching and listening to so many of those songs leaves you with a much better understanding and a much better appreciation for that genre of music. So, just because some one is playing a guitar in the studio or on stage doesn't mean he's more creative than a musician who's sampled something for a track, not at all, the guitarist could be playing the same chord progression that every other rock band has been playing, and that is not being creative, that's stagnating in a comfort zone(which is not bad, if that's what you want to express). A true test of creativity is to see how far you can break the general norms in the structures of music, and yet still keep it appealing. In the end, music isn't a competition of whose better than who, it is an art form, a means of creative expression.

Come on guys. Even heavily praised guys like The Beatles and Led Zeppelin took lyrics/riffs from guys like chuck Berry and Muddy Waters. Sampling isn't stealing as covers aren't stealing.Good music is good music regardless if its sampled or not(as long as the credit the original of course ).

I can literally hear him talk for hours! He's brilliant. Smart, funny and holds the room beautifully. What a talented guy!

What an absolute legend. More people need to know Marc Ronson. I've been a fan for awhile, what a treat to find out they have a passion for the art to match their talent. Thank you for providing this video, stellar

"Hip-Hop never invented anything, but it re-invented everything."

that last song was one of the most beautiful things I've ever heard, true soul. sampling is no different than playing any other instrument, you take sounds you like and make something new. Negativity more often than not brings nothing but more negativity

He nailed and articulated beautifully many of the reasons why Vaporwave is so interesting to me. I definitely think some of it is junk, but a lot of it feels so fresh while leaving you with this unmistakably powerful nostalgia.

Mark you are AMAZING! Talented, brilliant, and creative. From Daft Punk, Amy, Gaga, Bruno, Tame Impala and now Miley!!! I’m thoroughly impressed! Nothing but admiration and respect for you and your work.

I wish Mark Ronson was my best friend for a day. This is one of my favorite ted talks ever.

I like how people dismiss sampling in hip-hop because of how lazy and uninventive it is, when mainstream rock has when producing the same four chord guitar progressions for decades upon decades. Hip-hop is one of the most inventive, dynamic and nuanced genres of music in modern times; try soaking in all the details within Kanye's 'All Of The Lights', or Kendrick's 'Alright' (dat Terrence Martin saxophone though...), or Death Grips' energetic, vibrant 'Hustle Bones'.

I have heard that TED talk now dozens of times. The intro piece is a hit of its own. A masterpiece. I just love it. Would love to hear more of it!!!

KZfaq Algo: 2014: no 2015: no 2016: no 2017: no 2018: no 2019: YAS

Mark Ronson is one of those people I consider to be a musical genius. He has his own authentic sound but by the power of sampling, he can incorporate sounds from others in a way unique to his own style. And i feel that's where people misinterpret sampling. It's not a copy and paste of previous music. It really irritates me when pretentious music 'warriors' claim a song isn't good based on sampling.

Glad to see someone explain just how deep hip-hop is.

Mark Ronson has been placed on a higher level in my mind. I knew he could produce, but he can SPEAK amazingly! Loved it.

I could watch this man work/talk all day everyday...... what a bloody modern genius with an old school soul that will transcend history!

Let's face it, most of the people who hate sampling just hate hip hop in general. It's not that they don't like sampling, it's that they don't like rap.

I don't care about the debate occuring here: "Is sampling music", "do you need to actually know music and be able to play it to be a musican"... blablabla. Do you have emotions when you listen to it? Does it touches something in you? Are you having pleasure? Then it's fucking good music, and that's all I need to know... It seems like a lot of people focus on technique to devaluate creation. And in my opinion it is because they have no clue of the difference and interactions between technique and art.

I never tire of this. This is how creative sampling and scratching should be done.

One of the MOST creative and brilliant TED talks of ALL time

Mark Ronson deserves a lot more recognition for his work. He has produced some of the biggest tracks in the past 20 years and hopefully he will continue to for at least another 20 Years. He's the guy behind the guy(or gal).

Ronson is a Legend in his own right he's has produced some of the finest music of at least the last decade if not longer he has the passion and doesn't require the limelight this is how Legends form

14:42 OMG !!! Voices in my brain!! ....those words and piano!! And Ron’s hands...top that!

As many great artists have said, "bad artists imitate, great artists steal". Reinvention through sampling is stealing the way a great artist would, as Austin Kloen would argue. HipHop and even internet memes are all about reinvention through a sample. Mike Ronson is an amazing teacher. I generally am not into TED talks but wow artists like rappers and producers have made my favourite talks to date.

Sampling isn't only done when you sample other people's songs so it would have been nice if this had been covered as well. You can sample an entire instruments into an audio library and use all those individual samples to create your own pieces of music - someone took the liberty to sample the individual hits of a 808 drum machine for example the kick, snare, hat, etc, and now I don't have to go buy an 808 myself to use the sounds in it or be limited by its interface i can just drag and drop the sounds into the timeline. This is essentially what I do to produce all of my music that is on Beatport under alias (you guessed it), Ben Murk. I was a guitar player for 8 years before and was in many metal bands as a lead guitarist but fell in love with electronic music circa 2008 and I began to dabble until it became a full on career. Being able to buy 'sample libraries' with hundreds of pre-recorded kits, FX, bass notes, swooshes, etc. allows me to create original music speedily without having a huge expensive studio. Essentially house music was born due to the power of sampling, and in a way listening to sampled hip hop and pop for 25 years is now the reason why electronica has taken over the airwaves recently because people have grown fairly accustomed to hearing music made on computers by a single producer rather than music made by a collective of individuals played 'live' in a room..

Sampling is the art of human creativity. Songs are not intended for the song writers/producers credits, but for the ears of the people of tomorrow.

"I've pretty much wasted most of my life DJing in nightclubs and producing pop records" The lady with blue sweater and glasses on the second row bottom up at 3:38 clearly agrees with him...

I remember making my first beat when I was like 7 years old using my old sampling method. I used to have this radio with a dual cassette deck, and I'd take a blank tape and one with music on it, find a part on it where the beat is just playing, and keep pausing, rewinding, and recording until I had a whole beat. I used that method from about 1989 - 91 and I had never even used a sampler.

That is one of the most comatose studio audience I have ever seen! The dude's cracking joke after joke but the crowd is just...SILENT! The producers of this show need to start screening crowd members or giving a short lesson on wha tkind of noise they want in the background.

he definitely know who nujabes is!!!!

These comments are disgraceful. I grew up with Mark Ronson. We all grew up in Manhattan. Everyone from that scene had serious connections money etc...it was Manhattan. Mark made it happen 100% on his own. If he inherited anything it was just passion and love for music. He paid his dues DJIng high school parties. He was talented and loved every aspect of music long before he was old enough to work as a DJ. His accent could be a result of growing up in London & NYC with parents that British accents and family overseas. More importantly Mark wanted it more than anyone else and he was more talented. PERIOD. No one else from that time period or NYC scene has done more. If you want to call him part of the ‘1%” then I say he is 1% of that “1%” I can tell you many people with similar money and connections did nothing with their lives. Some even wound up with drug problems or even dead. He was alway a nice guy never saw people’s color or money or class differences. He Hung out and was equally accepted by anyone he met whether they were from the projects or Park Avenue. He always had his own musical style which I still hear today in his work. When you are incredibly smart, talented, and driven good things happen. We speak on IG from time to time but I would not say we are friends - life has different paths for people. I can say he is 100% legit. Not just anyone could have achieved what he has. I know for a fact he is one of a kind and really can’t stand when people judge without knowing anything. He did a great job on this interview! He deserves his success. - Phil D.

"There is nothing new under the sun." ~ Solomon

I'm glad this Ronson is credited as the main artist on Uptown Funk, he deserves to finally get his name out there to the masses as the talented musician he is

I find it interesting as I progress in age, we tend to forget art is art whether we think so or not. When I was younger, you had Warhol one of the greatest of all samplers, do we deny he was an artist? My parents though he and his contemporaries were absurd, in music they loved Stan Getz, Oscar Peterson, Charles Mingus, Miles Davis, Freddie King, Buddy Guy, Muddy Waters, et.al. Yet never enjoyed the influences and “sampling” my generation of the Stones, Cream, Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray, Bonnie Raitt., to name a few Nothing is new but I love the new sound, I am 59 years old and love artist and what they do and support them 100%.

The theme of his talk is so brilliantly constructed. I have never viewed sampling as a shared experience.

I really wish the quote "What happens when the music stops" would have been an abrupt end to the song, rather than a traditional end... But man that sounded so good overall.

you should watch some of the videos on how the prodigy made most of their drum and bass tracks. mostly jazz and reggae samples.

I really like the way he presented this. It showed that Sampling is an artform, and like any other instrument, there are some who are widely accepted and enjoyed, and others who aren't. It seems to come down to your own personal preference, not as much about trying to make everybody like it. I've read quite a few comments from people who didn't enjoy his performances, and others from people who really seemed to enjoy them. To think that music can cause people to get into arguments over "who's is better" only reinforces how powerful music can be :)

He's such a wonderful speaker. Jesus the man has so many talents.

The song at the end was SICK! Amazing.

0:30 Well, that finally explains why he talks like that

That first part was pretty cool. Don't believe me? Just watch.

That guy is dripping with talent.

Loved this speech. I hate seeing people dismiss sampling as not being artistic or creative.

Sampling does not prevent people from making new music- never has never will. The reason crap musicians make it big is not because of sampling, but because they appeal to large audiences of teens and twenty-somethings. Besides, Ronson is right. Most samples are of obscure songs. Rarely do musicians recycle top 40 hits- that would be lazy. I'm not saying musicians don't over-sample and make copy cat songs- they do. But tracks like Diamonds from Sierra Leone are not merely copy cats. It takes vision and creativity to reinvent something, and in the case of Diamonds from Sierra Leone I never would have gotten into Shirley Bassey if I had not heard that song. And if we're going to say sampling is stealing, then covering songs is stealing too. Both have the same idea.

Lennon wrote "Because" by backward sampling "Moonlight Sonata" by Beethoven.

Never seen a TED talk like this - super unique

Marc is a talented bloke, I love how can make an artist a bit more accessible to a mass audience. I wasn't a big fan of queens of the stoneage but loved the album he did with them.

this is one of my favourite ted talks ever! he basically explained how modern music came to be

Oh my goodness! I never knew Mark Ronson gave a Ted talk! and this was 5 years ago. wow. Love it! :) so inspiring to see others so passionate about something and putting that much effort into it. I can see Mark really loves music and continually makes a effort to improve and be better.

His style of speaking is one that I am most impressed with and admire! He said he was nervous when he started watching the talks! ps this was an amazing talk.

Professional "young" man explains music to old people.

Too bad his remixes would get automatically taken down from youtube without any consideration for Fair Use if it weren't on the TED channel, because they assume guilt, and don't have adequate support to read appeals.

He is absolutely my spirit animal.

One of the more recent “sampling” songs is 7 Rings by Ariana Grande using the song Favorite Things from the 1959 Show tune written by Oscar Hammerstein for the Sound of Music, and sung by Julie Andrews in the 1965 film. John Coltrane covered this song in 1961. Great Ted talk.

The last piece. There is so much sophisticated talent and obvious joy in his discovery and assembly. He takes a few bars of piano that have the same cadence of the poet’s words: does he speed one up, ever slightly, so they sync? Maybe not - Ronson has the talented ear to clip the right few bars. He backs up his work with the video that hits its own musical notes - grainy but fluid, stark and vivid. He intersplices the piano player with the rapper. He plays around with this interplay. He scratches and repeats as if the voice were suddenly a percussion instrument, or a horn section. It makes me hear every word, and hear the whole more sharply. It’s now no mystery to people who’d never heard of him why Ronson is world famous.

I want a ted talk about KZfaq comments how they are bad how they can be good and why you should never read them.

This guy is wearing a $2,500 Saint Laurent jacket. What a G

he is so in his element it makes me happy

This is the most surprising and, well, amazing TED talk I've watched. Superb!

He should release the last track/song he plays.

He looks like if Woody from toy story was a real person.

Well, this is awesome. I had never imagined presentations about music on TED Talks!

I listened to La Di Da De endlessly back in 84 I’m glad that I was hearing something that had longevity coz it felt like a classic

I love how he sounds like he's at best average in terms of intelligence, but stands out to be a lot more than that. A cool and inspiring performance!

The opening 3 mins, you realize how ridiculously talented Mark Ronson is!

one of the most enjoyable and understandable TED videos i’ve seen.

This is by far one of the best and most creative Ted talks! Ronson for genius!!!!

This was a great Ted Talk, shocked he didn't mention Kanye at all though who really became the most evident, dominant, and influential member of this "sample era"

This guy is actually a beast on the machine

I like what he did with the song at the end.

What a treat! Canadian Astronaut, Commander Chris Hadfield was in the audience. That dude played guitar and sang ISS or IS SOMEBODY SINGING? while he was at the International Space Station and Ed Robertson was with other musicians in Canada.

too many envious people who wish they had half his talent and perfectionism. Mark Ronson is a tremendous musician, one can only wonder how long it took him to get to this level.

Andrew Garfield could play him in his future biopic. :p

8:17 Duran Duran 9:30 hypnotize 11:00 must add something new 12:15 miley cyrus 14:40 remix

I recently discovered this music producer and I just love his style!