I think whatever gets the creative spark going is good. Wether its a drummer in a band making a drum beat or a groove pack you bought, its not realistic to expect a solo artist to have a mastery of all musical instruments, the recording arts, the commercial gear and acoustics, as well as the time to excercise it all and be able to pay for living expenses.

I used to feel using samples and drum replacement was cheating, then realized so many songs i loved, and the mixes i was comparing mine to, were doing just that.

The true art is being able to combine whats available into something that meets or inspires the artistic vision.

From house bands like the wrecking crew, to hit writers like Diane Warren, to to bordeline plagiarism, music has always been full of teamwork, and people allowing for others to be involved to make the final project better. Its the essence of the song that's the unique ingredient, that's the artists inspiration. The rest is the process of conveying that idea by any means necessary.

Plus, lol, you can always create your own oringinal drum beat and swap it in later. But theres no reason not to let someone who does it better, do it for you, whether its a groove pack, a preset, or a person who programs stuff, makes no difference.

That's my stance anyway. And ive only moved into that line of thinking in the past 5 or so years.

I needed to hear that other artists are doing this. It's probably fair to say that all of us song writers are all collaborating together, almost like we are all in one big band!
To say, this is my song and you can't build off of it is selfish. I mean, however, when it comes to finished products such as lyrics and a melody that is unique to anyone else, that's different.
Thank you for sharing with me KMetal

I use grooves from Cubase groove agent or their media bay to sketch book stuff and I'm a drummer!! haha

Tools are there to be used..

I've never used the grooves in groove agent for anything - not my type of music projects, but yesterday my young grandson who likes to come into my studio discovered them, and that's three hours of my life I won't get back. Making music is all about the end product. How you get there doesn't really matter my business partner is a solid classically trained pianist and we record serious, and often to my mind, dreadful painful music. To him anything other than a grand piano was a musical betrayal, however now he is really benefiting from VST instruments, synths and samples - plus of course the ability to edit multiple takes into one perfect track. To him, this kind of stuff was like some people treat grooves and beats - but really it doesn't matter.