Mashup Beauty
Published by michael November 19th, 2004 in tech, music
This Beatles/Jay-Zee VIDEO mashup will delight you, says Cory Doctorow of Boing Boing. DJ Danger Mouse is amazing. I forgot to download it the other day when I read his post, and apparently that site was promptly taken out of comission, but he wrote today about a new mirror available here. A bit of searching on Mashup reveals that it’s an art form of mixing vocals and instrumentation from different artists to create new works that is sometimes controversial.
Apparently, many of these mashup artists are creating work for free, and not asking to profit off of someone else’s work, but the record industry is reacting violently to the music, and doesn’t see any legitimate use of anything copyrighted. One of the beautiful aspects of the Creative Commons, is that you can specifically control how your copyright should be applied, whether you want to allow DJs for example, to modify and rework your art and whether you want them to be able to legally profit from that post-processed work or not. There are huge issues being debated today around copyright, and Creative Commons, Wired Magazine, Lawrence Lessig, Cory Doctorow, EFF and CDT are some of the most lucid and progressive voices that I have found.
I just received another copy of Wired Magazine again after not receiving it for a couple of years. They’re still offering it (after however many years I’ve not had it- 4 or so?) for $10/year –I can’t help wonder if they’re actually making any money at all on it after postage & printing. With my magazine came the Creative Commons Licensed Wired CD that I have been reading about here and there. It’s actually a great CD with a bunch of tracks, and it is all licensed for ripping, sharing, mashing up, or whatever you like. It’s a brilliant idea, and carries the amazing talents of David Byrne, Zap Mama, the Beastie Boys, Gilberto Gil and others.
Update: Read Liron’s review of the Wired CD.
Definately don’t miss out on seeing the video I mentioned up top; it’s pretty sweet.
Update: you can find more about the “Grey Album” via Waxy.org
and actually DL the torrent the individual tracks via Illegal Art
4 Responses to “Mashup Beauty”
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The mashup was brilliant. The reactions of the gearheads in the booth was a fabulous reflection of the music execs who are bugging out over the copyright infringement. I wonder if it’s not for any profit if it violates copyright law? The whole issue is pretty interesting. I was listening to a lecture on it yesterday. Mickey Mouse is the staple example in every copyright discussion because every time his copyright is about to run out, a new law comes out to prolong it. Mickey Mouse was originally a spinoff or a spoof of another comic. Walt Disney created Steamboat Willy (Mickey’s original name)in 1928 as a riff off of another artist’s character, Steamboat Somebodyorother. The irony is that if today’s copyright laws had been in effect, Disney would never have been able to legally create Mickey Mouse. I understand and respect the rights of artists to protect their creations and prevent theft of ideas, but I also believe our culture would be so much richer if it fostered the kind of cultural call and response that generated Mickey and the Gray Album. Perhaps what DJ Danger Mouse demonstrates is that creativity will continue to respond to itself regardless of the strictures we place upon it.
Nice redesign! Looks like we both latched on to the Dangermouse video. Glad you liked the Joseph Arthur video, too. He’s one of my favorite musicians. If you’re not familiar with his music, I’d recommend his debut “Big City Secrets” and “Redemption’s Son”–though they’re all good.
Thanks Robert! I’m still messing with it, although I’d better go to sleep now. I will definately but those albums on my must have list.
Best,
michael
I just posted about the Wired CD as well, it’s nice to see more people spreading the word about how much of a wonderful initiative it is, both the album and the Creative Commons alike.