​Taylor Swift Sampled a Toronto Youth Choir on 'Lover'

"It's Nice to Have a Friend" was produced by Frank Dukes and features the Regent Park School of Music's youth choir

BY Sarah MurphyPublished Aug 26, 2019

Taylor Swift's latest album Lover arrived last week, and in addition to the likes of Dixie Chicks and Brendon Urie, the record features a sample of the youth choir from Toronto's Regent Park School of Music.
 
Lover song "It's Nice to Have a Friend" was produced by Swift, Louis Bell and Toronto's own Frank Dukes, and the latter confirmed to CBC that the Toronto school choir appears on the song and will also benefit from future royalties.
 
Swift borrowed from a piece called "Summer in the South" from Parkscapes, on which the youth choir can be heard singing and playing instruments. The snippet was made available through Dukes' Kingsway Music Library — ensuring that money earned from the sample will generate income for the Regent Park School of Music.
 
"We made it so that the proceeds from the sales of the library go to fund the school," Dukes told q last month. "Beyond that, when it gets sampled, money from sample clearances and the royalties — which could be long-standing and pretty significant overtime — would go and sustain the program." 
 
The kids at the music-focused community school have since thanked Swift for the high-profile shout-out, as well as the ongoing support that "It's Nice to Have a Friend" will provide.
 
Check out their thank-you video below, as well as Swift's new tune.
 

 

Tour Dates

Latest Coverage