Youtube: A place for cats, tutorials and weird Japanese commercials (Remix Culture)

Youtube: who’s hooked? Whether is its copious cat videos, the latest must-see music video or ‘current’ current affairs, Youtube is the place to go.

But what is it that makes today's youth (in particular) so enchanted by a three to five minute video? It not hard to see the correlation between the length of a typical Youtube clip and the attention of span today's young media consumer. In fact, the popularity of Youtube reveals something about today’s mass media audience that, until now, may not have been quite so obvious: that is, people want their entertainment fast and then they move on.

Enter, remix culture – what was old, is new again. You find a song, you love a song, you tire of the same song until … your favourite DJ remixes it. And we’re back! Take the remix of the 1997 Aqua song ‘Barbie Girl’. Thanks to the remix a new generation of consumers are enjoying the song and the old fans are back enjoying it again.

(Yes, I am a 12 year old Girl)

But what makes the remix different to the original song? And what about copyright? These are just some of the question that emerge when talking ‘remix culture’. Is it ethical to ‘rip off’ the creative work of others to create a remix, and essentially, to make money? How much does the original work have to change for it to be classified as a remix? It appears the flood gates have opened and we are only just beginning to navigate the murky waters before us. According to American academic Jude Yew, “Remix culture has received significant media attention but is focusing more on the battles surrounding the legality of remixing under copyright law.”
(Jude)

(The Evolution of Remix)

It isn’t only the music industry that is feeling the impact of the remix phenomenon. It encompasses the adaptation of an original content to create a new piece of work. You can find examples of remix culture everywhere. Whether it’s a remix of your favourite song, a meme or gif created using a scene from popular culture or even copying someone's written or artistic work entirely but putting your own spin on it. Remix is everywhere, but is perhaps best described in the ‘Evolution of Remix Culture’. Clearly, it is here to stay so the challenges for creative people who work in this space will continue until we can adequately answer how much original content has to be changed to be considered a new piece of work? It’s an ethical mountain in front of us. So who’s up for the climb?