Mashups are some of my favourite music. Essentially, a  mashup is a remix which puts together two or more styles of music. DJ’s mix the music in ways you never even thought of, making an old song sound totally different by mixing it with another style.

One mashup that has been sweeping the internet is Jaydiohead, a mashup of Jay Z & Radiohead by DJ Minty Fresh Beats. It’s growing on me. I probably like it because it’s a Jay-Z mashup, and I’m a huge Jay-Z fan.

Jay Z v Radiohead

Mashups have become really popular in the last couple of years. Dangermouse’s Grey Album, a mix of Jay Z’s “Black” album and the Beatles “white” album is one of the more famous & controversial ones.  Mashups have become so viral because of the internet – they spread so fast now as they can be downloaded and shared on peer to peer networks. DJ Minty Fresh Beats and his website has gotten publicity on Digg, Delicious (where I originally found it), MTV, and the Carson Daly Show (see below).

But don’t just listen to Carson & me hyping it up, check it out here and download the torrent for free!

Mashups –  The law and opportunities

Mashups are changing the way we consume music. We are hearing sounds which the original artists and the record companies did not even fatom. Their are legal issues as well, because the DJ’s are using music belonging to other artists, which the music labels would probably never clear. But, the music labels and the artists – they should be embracing it as the music is being introduced to new fans and markets. For example, I don’t even listen to Radiohead, but I might get their albums now.

Record labels and artists should be encouraging mashups, and letting them be downloaded for free. It is innovative, creative and the public love it.

Change of the music industry business model

The music industry itself has been turned upside down with the internet. It’s totally changed their business model.  I watched a video on the American Express forums where the Editor for Wired stated that “we are growing up in a generation of free”. We are able to download what we want for free. Some artists are embracing it, while some music companies take their official videos down from youtube.

I found it a bit strange that a rap artist I saw on the weekend, MURS, actually had his album available for as a free download. That’s awesome. He gave his album out for free before he signed with a major record label, to encourage and spread his music. The effect is so that he could draw more people to his concerts and it allows his fans to connect with him in a deeper way as they have access to more of his music. It will be interesting to see how the music industry and the artists also respond to Apple iTunes giving up the DRM (digital rights management). These are topics for another post.

I’m out like Jay-Z v Radiohead,

Matthew Ho

p.s. Check out this track by Jay-Z & Santos Gold “Brooklyn We Go Hard” from the Notorious B.I.G soundtrack. I’m feelin it 🙂