THE TREND OF REMIX: RECREATING AMATEURLY

THE TREND OF REMIX: RECREATING AMATEURLY

“ Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”

• VINCENT VAN GOGH

INTRODUCTION

Remix refers to recreating an already existing work. The recreation is done by distorting, altering, adding, removing and many other changes to the track or sound that is already present on the internet and in physical copy (cds, vinyls).  Remix has become a trend today, or more like a culture. Today, every other song is getting a remix version with close to no changes in them. The Remix Culture that is dominating the music industry today, is doing injustice to the original creators and their hard work. The original creator does not get enough credit because of the culture of remix and in so many cases they are given no credit; infringing their rights.

A finished song or a sound or a composition is a result of the constant efforts and work of multiple people from artists to composers to lyricists to music producers who require serious appreciation and credits. No matter how good the remix version is, the reality is that it is just the alteration or addition of some beats in the original work, the original work was a masterpiece and because of that only the new version sounds that perfect. So, the original creators need credits for using their thoughts and being this creative and creating a masterpiece. There is also a specific group of work that when recreated it will not cause any harm to others, like remixing some hit song from the 70s or 80s or even 90s. Since, the time back then and the kind of music made back then was completely different from the kind of music that is preferred today, a remix version of that music would be a great showcase of old music with today’s beats. But , the songs which came in this decade only, a recreation of those, are kind of insulting to the creators, because there is no huge change in the type of music people prefer.

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ISSUE

The issue in this generation of remixes is that first there are no proper credits given to the original creator and the other one is remixing any music without proper analytics.

The reason credits are important for the original artist is because art cannot be created in a day, specifically talking about music, it takes immense time to write, compose and produce a song, the artists put their heart and soul in bringing up their best work, so after investing that lot of time and creativity it is totally not fair, not getting recognised.

The other reason is amateur creativity, which means remixing songs which are still fresh and with almost no changes in them. The need of remixes is to mix and match an old track or sound with new beats, to come up with a project that displays the old music with a new touch, and also to evaluate how much we have changed over time. But recreating a recent work is a complete waste of time and resources and an insult to the original creator. Artists put in their blood, sweat and tears in making of their work, to make it unique and creative and create their own legacy. Their work is reminiscent of them for the future generations, so it is very much important to properly give them credits whenever remixing or sampling or even taking inspiration from their work. The original idea was theirs, and it needs to be known by the people, for their financial and social needs.

PRESENT SITUATION IN INDIA

With the growing pace of the digital era of music making and streaming, India’s copyright regulations requires modernization. In India, the sole ownership of the music is in control of the music labels, unless they are independent. So, they allow remixes in return for a good amount of money, not considering the original creator. The original creator does not have any equity, so has no rights to question or sue the person remixing their work or the music label. The only thing they can do is express their views, and ask their audience to support them by streaming the original work.

Recently, a very famous and fan loved song by Falguni Pathak, was remixed with another artist Neha Kakkar, without the consent from Falguni Pathak. But since she had no control over the music, she couldn’t sue the remixed work and was only left with the option to express her views through the media and ask her audience to listen to her version.

Therefore, vital that the person who’s making the music recording legally inform the rightful owner of the original track of his or her plan to produce the sound recording. A ‘work royalty’ at a rate set by the copyright board must also be paid to the owner of the original track by the person making the sound recordings, together with copies of all covers and labels that include it.

PRESENT SITUATION IN AMERICA

In countries like America, artists also face such problems, where their created work is not owned by them and due to this reason, they don’t benefit from the remixes created and their music being used in other shows or movies.

Artists like Taylor Swift have stood against the old practices and have expressed the importance of artists owning their work, so they could stop their work from getting remixed amateurly. And have taken steps by leaving their old music label, inspite of getting huge profits for owning their masters and bringing a change in the society.

THE NEED OF REFORMS IN THE PRESENT COPYRIGHT ACT

The copyright laws states that a remix song is only legitimate if the owner notifies the original owner via notice stating the reason for the remix song and pays a fee to them.

And since, the ownership of the songs or music lies with the music labels, they for their own monetary benefits, allows the remixes no matter how amateurly it is created. Therefore, there’s a need to change in the act and bring up some laws that protect the rights of the artists involved in the creative process. It is the artists who put in their thoughts, music label just provide money for the production and promotion, so they might not get the importance of work to the artists. Artists, lyricists, composers should also be given equal ownership, so they could stand for themselves and protect their work.

According to the copyright law “The exclusive rights of the copyright owner over acts such as reproduction/copying, communication, adaptation, and performance – unless licensed openly – by their very nature reduce the ability to negotiate copyright material without permission”^[1]. The creators making the remix takes permission from the music labels, so copyright never becomes an issue for them and they openly create and release the remixes.

Reforms are seriously required in the copyright act and transfer of intellectual property rights that protects the rights of the artists and also introduce some strict, rules and regulations for the remixes and infringement of any of those would lead to some serious consequences

Conclusion

Remixes are valid only if they are done appropriately with appropriate music. Remix without credits to original creator is invalid and should be removed or re released with proper credits as an artist’s work is their reminiscent of their name. Artists may go, but their work stays. Their name remains with the audience. So, the government should improve and introduce new laws and acts that fit this modern era of remixing music, so as to make and remake music in such manner that does not infringe the rights of anyone.

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^[1] Remix Culture on the Internet Case Study, IvyPanda, May 15, 2020.

• https://ivypanda.com/essays/remix-culture-on-the-internet/
• https://legumattorney.com/intellectual-property/