After watching the movie (RIP: A Remix Manifesto) in class, I feel as if I got a better understanding as to where our generation is currently heading. Personally, I didn't really notice that we've transitioned into this type of "remix culture" due to the fact that I'm just so used to going with the flow and following social norms. The movie opened my eyes to the fact that everything we do can somehow be related to the past. Remixing and remaking movies, music, pictures, etc. are seriously what's considered to be "in" right now. I'd rather listen to a remixed version of a song than the original version because it offers more variety of beats/lyrics. When I'm looking for songs on youtube, I automatically type "remix" after the title of the song just to see if there are any other versions that might possibly improve the song. And the funny thing about this is that I do it unknowingly, which infers that my brain has become accustomed to enjoying remixed music.
Like the producers of the movie, I don't think the fact that we're taking other people's music and building off of it with our own twists is a wrong or bad thing. The movie makes some good points by saying that our culture has become this technologically advanced BECAUSE of this concept of remixing. So why then shouldn't we be able to continue to do this? I love the fact that artists such as DJ Earworm and Girl Talk are getting so popular because they deserve some type of recognition for having the talents to mesh more than one song into a combined beat. Personally, I think the song we listened to in class (United State of Pop 2009) is a symbol that DJ Earworm has got MAD talent. I would never be able to take really specific parts of songs and mesh them together in a way that would sound like a completely new song (and a really good new song just to add to that). The song has gotten almost 30,000,000 views which is probably a good indicator that the rest of society is enjoying the remixing and remaking of music as well.
I really don't understand how we would be able to move forward in society without having the rights to build off of the past. "Starting from scratch" doesn't even seem possible to me anymore because our ideas must somehow be tied into someone else's idea. Think about it- every "new" idea must somehow be linked to an "old" idea (which can kind of link back to convergence culture). For example the idea of a flying car is based off of two previous ideas: a car and an airplane. However, I'm not saying that this takes the creativity out of new ideas. In fact, I'm emphasizing the notion that we can still be creative with building off of old ideas.
The government needs to put an end to these ridiculous strict restrictions. I mean the fact that we're trying to prevent other countries from benefiting off our medications just because it was originally our idea is the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. Also, charging someone up to $20,000 just for illegally downloading one song is so fucking retarded (excuse my language). Yeah, they're trying to make a point that illegally downloading music is like stealing but seriously.. $20,000 per song?! Besides, I'm sure majority of the population has downloaded music illegally at least once. This means that EVERYONE is a criminal in their eyes. It's pointless to put these restrictions on anyways because our society has a natural mindset to move forward and find creativity by mixing the past and the present. The fact that we live in a convergence culture is inevitable.
I completely agree with what you said. I feel like trying to invent new everything is unreasonable rather than letting up on harsh copyright laws. I don't see anything wrong with mashups or remixes, I feel like the artist really doesn't lose much money and should be happy that people want to use their music to create something new. I feel like we will unable to move foward with these laws that want to lock down everything about the past.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you too. I think the "control" that the artists want over their music is just to ensure that they can make as much money as possible. If someone is truly a good artist then people are still going to want to see them perform even if their songs appear elsewhere.
ReplyDeleteI couldn't agree more. We use the past in so many ways in the present. Inevitably, those who use the works of others for remix, mashups, etc. will find a way to gain access to the music without having to fear a lawsuit. I think the bigger problem here is money. Artists don't want other people using their music for free when they could be making money off if it. Too me this represents a divide between musical creativity, and social creativity. Too push new artists forward, there needs to be the resources and ideas to inspire them. What artists like Girltalk are doing is pushing the creativity revolution forward and he's doing so by using inspiration from other artist.
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