Remixes! These days almost everything you hear is a remix, you just don’t realise it. So many popular songs are remix’s of old songs, or just current ones with a new twist. They’re all part of a remix culture. Bit’s and pieces of different material remixed together to create new content, creating a new perspective of the original content. But I want to touch one two main issues, how the internet has grown remix culture and how it affects it, as well as the nature of mashups in general.

The Internet and Remixing:

I don’t think remix’s would be as popular as they are today without the internet. Because of the internet, everyone get’s the chance to share their work. It’s up to the audience if they want to view it or not. And without the internet, most producers wouldn’t have the chance to share own work. There are so many aspects about the internet that have allowed remixing to become so popular. The accessibility and ease of use being one of the main characteristics. Anonymity I think is another key aspect. Without this anonymity, I don’t think as many people would or be able to download the original content, mainly because most people would download it illegally through a peer-to-peer torrenting website, or through a youtube downloader. Of course there’s always going to be the demographic that play’s it by the books, but that’s not interesting to talk about. Who buys music these days?

There’s also the issue of copyright and ownership. The internet makes it easier not only to share your work, but it makes it easier to illegally share your work. If you don’t own the rights to content that doesn’t allow you to edit it in any way, and then you go ahead and remix it, well i’m afraid that’s illegal. And the internet makes sharing illegal works easy, because it’s impossible to track down every source of infringement. I personally think that this is good for remix culture, because remix’s can make the original content more known, and it has more positive aspects then negative. For example, Gotye ‘steered into the skid’ that is remix culture, and created a remix of remix’s to create a mashup, and I wished more artists’ encouraged this rather than file for copyright.

Mashups:

Why mashups? Because mashups are awesome. Can you honestly tell me that there isn’t one mashup out there that you don’t like? Maybe it’s music, maybe it’s a mashup of tv shows, the possibilities are endless. Imagine mashing up two of your favourite shows, I think we all know you would watch it all at once. I’m still waiting for the Doctor Who and Sherlock mashup series, and I know i’m not alone. When people think of ‘mashups’ they generally associate that with music, but the mashup of ideas, shows, movies or concepts can be even better. It just takes one person to ask themselves what something would be like if they were mashed together, and they can create something amazing. The possibilities are endless.