Erykah Badu and Paul McCartney Make a Deal via Twitter

Twitter really does make the world smaller. Just this past weekend, the song "Teenage Dirtbag" came up on my iPod, and I tweeted "Whatever happened to Wheatus? Teenage Dirtbag was a great song, right?" In less than four hours, the band themselves replied to me.

Having a virtual brush with a popular band from the '90s may have made my weekend, but did you know that Twitter can also be used to cut out the middle men in massive music deals that actually matter? Neither did songstress Erykah Badu until she desperately needed to get in touch with erstwhile Beatle and current Wings frontman Paul McCartney on Feb. 24.

According to Pitchfork.com, Badu found out on Wednesday that she had 24 hours to clear the funky Wings track "Arrow Through Me" for sampling on her soon-to-be-released single, "Gone Baby, Don't Be Long." Rather than approaching the usual channels of communication that musicians use to sort these things out — lawyers, managers, publicists — Badu decided to turn to the Twitter community at large as her 24-hour deadline loomed over her.

"[I]f i can talk to PAUL MCCARTNEY i can get the sample cleared .. have less than 24 hours or song wont make album . help . it will happen!!" Badu tweeted at 11:13 p.m. on Feb. 24. Adding to that plea, Badu used some business savvy. Knowing that Lenny Kravitz is friendly with McCartney's daughter, Stella, she reached out to Kravitz's daughter, Zoe, and @LennyFANS for his information. Her quest started at 10:25 p.m. with a tweet to @LennyKravitzpeace.

Badu also tried reaching out to Stella McCartney directly, and she also tweeted to Madonna's manager, Guy Oseary. "Peace guy ... im erykah badu i understand u are friends with stella mccartney .. can u help us connect ?" Unfortunately, neither of these resulted in success.

Finally, at 11:31 p.m., a little more after Badu's desperate Twitter quest to get her Wings sample cleared, she heard from Mathieu Bitton, a member of Kravitz's management. "I am with Lenny. If it really you, follow me then DM me. I'll connect you. (Its me.) twitter is fresh." Following Bitton's message, Badu returned at 11:54 p.m. to thank him for giving Kravitz her number, then her Twitter feed went silent for several hours.

The next morning, at 9:50 a.m., social media history was made. Erykah Badu announced what surely must be the first official sample clearance deal made via Twitter: "Paul McCartney approved the sample . Cleared!!!" Badu had her sample, and her single can now be released in anticipation of her March 30 record. The singer also took time to thank her fans and everyone who helped make the deal happen: "I want 2 officially thank my Twitter fam 4 helping me 2 clear my Paul McCartney sample! We kik ass! Put it n the universe' has new meaning ."

Photo courtesy of Livepict.com via Wikimedia Commons.