We Invented the Remix

In Matt Mason’s book, The Pirate’s Dilemma, Mason discussed the prospect of remixed culture and what it held in the wake of the “free culture.” The remixed culture is a new wave of media produced by media consumers who edit and add their own expressions, art, and opinions into the work of others for nearly any reason whether it be for entertainment, fun, or even blackmail. The remixed culture, Mason argues, is a “conscious process used to innovate and create,” and to take something that already exists and redefining it to how you want to see it in your own vision. Mason argues that even through remixed culture “raises questions about the nature of creativity and originality,” the remixed culture has evolved into something bigger; a mass movement by artists and media consumers that spans across hundreds of different industries. But if remixed culture is so controversial and “uncreative,” why is it so popular?

The remixed culture is nothing to be thought of as “new.” It is instead a long history of artists and musicians coming together and mixing different sounds and beats. The remixed culture started the disco, the hip hop, and dance halls. It is a culture that is even bigger today than ever, and still, it keeps growing. Now with the aid of the internet, more and more people have access to music, video, and file sharing. They can share their work with others. Some will find it funny, others will find it cool, and the rest will hate it. And while people are out sharing their new version of someone else’s song, people will be coming up with new and easier ways to remix and reinvent popular culture and make it their own.

“The remix is gradually winning the war with a paranoid entertainment industry, proving itself to be a valuable form of expression, levelling playing fields for artists and entrepreneurs, and constructing new meaning to from old material. The last battle is in sight. It is the future of the past, and perhaps the ultimate democracy, open to infinite criticism, reinterpretation, and improvement.” (Mason, 2008, 101)