Mix CDs in Mefi Music? November 29, 2009 3:02 PM   Subscribe

Is it ok to post dj mixes to mefi music? I guess there are like copyright issues, but what about if it's a link to a third party site?
posted by empath to Etiquette/Policy at 3:02 PM (33 comments total)

Music is usually supposed to be for things that are loosely "songs" So in the past we've told people to not put their podcasts there, for example. I'm not sure what you mean about linking. Do you mean is it okay to link to other sites where dj mixes are hosted in someplace like MusicTalk? If so, then that's totally okay.
posted by jessamyn (staff) at 3:09 PM on November 29, 2009


if you were to spin exclusively stuff found on mefi music i am sure that you would be able to spin at the cabal ball.
posted by the aloha at 4:52 PM on November 29, 2009


While agreeing with jessamyn, I think that if your definition of dj mix means that you're essentially creating new music with existing songs, that's probably cool. I'm really surprised that we haven't covered this previously. Good question!
posted by snsranch at 5:51 PM on November 29, 2009


If the source material is copyrighted and you lack permission from the copyright holder, then all you can do is make personal backups of your mixes and perhaps play it for small private parties.

Here is the beef. A good article that covers the legality of DJ mixes and the posting thereof.

Even if it's been posted on MeFi Music, or anywhere, that doesn't imply permission to post a mix without the artists' permission.

If you would like a source of music that you are welcome and encouraged to mix, remix and distribute, check out Creative Commons.
posted by _aa_ at 6:45 PM on November 29, 2009


I have posted a lot of songs that are essentially made up of other songs. I may now be drawing unwanted attention to these, but since these are not substantial sections of the original songs being played in full, and I am not attempting to make any money from these, I figured there was no problem.

The difference with a DJ Mix is that while I recognize there's a compositional aspect to it (finding the best way to transition between two pieces, turntablism, et. al) it is replaying long phrases (usually at least a verse/chorus) and is less rooted in the creation of music aspect of MeFi music. That said, I don't think that linking to it should really be much of a concern, in spite of _aa_'s link, which doesn't appear to directly address what we're talking about (forgive me, I just skimmed, but 1-800-BAD-BEAT is fucking HILARIOUS.)
posted by orville sash at 7:06 PM on November 29, 2009


I've posted a lve "turntable based*" remix of a track, but I have permission from the original artist to post it, and it definitely blurs the line between a DJ set and a remix. It's all live DJing of the same track on both decks, so... remix? Mashup? DJ mix? Same difference.

For full length DJ mixes I generally host elsewhere, like waxdj.com and link to it from my profile.

*Software-based. More than half the shit in that mix is impossible without software based DJing unless you're a robot with ten arms and opcoders for fingertips.
posted by loquacious at 7:24 PM on November 29, 2009


link to it from my profile.

I think i'll just do that :)
posted by empath at 11:25 PM on November 29, 2009



I think i'll just do that :)


The link in your profile goes to "http://www.metafilter.com/user/link%20to%20it%20from%20my%20profile."?
posted by juv3nal at 12:34 AM on November 30, 2009


whoops, thanks
posted by empath at 1:29 AM on November 30, 2009


Techno isn't actually music so maybe this would better suited to the MetaCrap section of this website.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:30 AM on November 30, 2009 [3 favorites]


I just favorited my own post to show how sincere I am.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 6:31 AM on November 30, 2009


Man, didn't mean to ignore this thread.

Anything that's pushing the line on personally created content is pushing the line on what we want to see much of on Music, is my take on it. Covers are probably the most permissible thing in that borderland; sample-driven original recordings are generally fine too; mashups are pushing it a bit more but we don't see a lot of them so it hasn't been much of an issue, though it makes me twitch a little and chew on the issue every time I do see one. I've considered arguing that we just shouldn't allow those, actually.

A DJ mix where the material is essentially entirely someone else's, presented in series with a creative component to the mixing, is kind of taking the mashup thing and pushing it well into what I see as No Go territory for Music. Not to deny the creative component of it, just that for what Music is intended to be that's too far from the shore.

Linking to stuff like this in a discussion in Music Talk is, I think, much more okay, for what it's worth. And of course dropping such stuff in your profile is absolutely okay.
posted by cortex (staff) at 7:13 AM on November 30, 2009


Techno isn't actually music so maybe this would better suited to the MetaCrap section of this website.

And yet somehow I got booked at your NYE party, lulz.
posted by empath at 7:48 AM on November 30, 2009


it makes me twitch a little and chew on the issue every time I do see [a mashup posted].

Sorry I made you twitch.
posted by davejay at 7:49 AM on November 30, 2009


"Here is the beef. A good article that covers the legality of DJ mixes and the posting thereof."

That's a hilariously bad article from the RIAA on their interpretation of what's legal, you mean.
posted by klangklangston at 8:01 AM on November 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


That's a hilariously bad article from the RIAA on their interpretation of what's legal, you mean.

They may be right, but it's a joke. I can't spit without a dj trying to give me a mix cd at most parties.
posted by empath at 8:20 AM on November 30, 2009


the MetaCrap section of this website

the brown is my favorite part of the site!
posted by the aloha at 9:49 AM on November 30, 2009


Techno isn't actually music so maybe this would better suited to the MetaCrap section of this website.

*grabs bait, yanks on the line and pulls Potomac Avenue overboard*

The fuck you say. Maybe the "techno" you're exposed to, I don't know. You're just listening to the wrong techno. Unless you've actually dug down past the crap what you've been exposed to what you've heard is likely "club music" which isn't techno, and yeah, it's total crap.

Real techno is as complicated and nuanced as classical and as freeform and performance-based as jazz. Not all of it is dance music, the real stuff is rarely played at clubs... hell, the real stuff is rarely played.

This old trope of "techno isn't actually music" is especially tiresome because it's one of the only new forms of music to come out in decades that isn't a rehash of some blues-rock styled pop ensemble style, and it's the most punk rock, do-it-yourself music to come around since punk rock itself, and worse - it's easily some of the most purely, rawly music/melody/structure-focused music around.

In my nearly 20 year adventure with techno, it's my experience that when people say techno isn't actually music haven't ever actually heard techno or bothered to actually listen to it.
posted by loquacious at 10:35 AM on November 30, 2009 [3 favorites]


Unless you've actually dug down past the crap what you've been exposed to what you've heard is likely "club music" which isn't techno, and yeah, it's total crap.

Oh come on.
posted by empath at 10:38 AM on November 30, 2009 [1 favorite]


You've never heard the good stuff, which is so obscure that nobody's ever heard it.
posted by ook at 10:45 AM on November 30, 2009


Oh come on.

What, you want Tiesto sharing the booth with Carl Craig? Fuck that shit in the ear.
posted by loquacious at 10:47 AM on November 30, 2009


You've never heard the good stuff, which is so obscure that nobody's ever heard it.

Yeah, I know that sounds like hipster bullshit, but it's not. I'm just pointing out that it's really difficult to filter the wheat from the chaff when it comes to techno, and it's difficult to hear it all because there's so damn much of it.

I'm still discovering records and tracks that are 15-20 years old that I've never heard or even heard of before. I have friends who deal records and they're still going through the same thing, and these are people who own many tens of thousands of pure techno/dance records and have made their lives nothing but DJing and the buying and selling of records.

Underground Resistance, Planet E or Plus-8 is just the tip of the iceberg.
posted by loquacious at 10:53 AM on November 30, 2009


What, you want Tiesto sharing the booth with Carl Craig?

Fuck yes I would like that. Tiesto is a lot better when he's not spinning for a DVD or a CD mix. When he's playing to a crowd that's up for it, he gets darker and more underground, less HUGE DUTCH SUPERSAW ANTHEM, and generally a lot more fun. Combine that with a sick techno DJ? Maybe as a 2x4? Fuck yes, that would be fucking amazing.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 11:00 AM on November 30, 2009


I THINK YOU MEAN funk that shit in the ear.
posted by carsonb at 11:03 AM on November 30, 2009


What, you want Tiesto sharing the booth with Carl Craig? Fuck that shit in the ear.

Sure. Tiesto was actually one of the two DJs that got me inspired to start. Plus I opened for him in 2004 :)

And I've got Tiesto on the dj mix in my profile.

And I'm sorry, but this is fucking amazing:

Kaleidoscope (featuring Jonsi from Sigur Ros)
posted by empath at 11:07 AM on November 30, 2009


Who was the other, empath?

Kaleidoscope is gorgeous, listening to the mix after.
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 12:12 PM on November 30, 2009


Sooo...

I hear Moby spins a sick set
posted by scrutiny at 4:09 PM on November 30, 2009


"They may be right, but it's a joke. I can't spit without a dj trying to give me a mix cd at most parties."

The RIAA would like you to remember that the mix tape you made for your crush in seventh grade was not only full of embarrassing Smiths songs that now, with a greater appreciation for irony, you realize meant exactly the opposite of what you thought we were saying, but also entirely illegal and piracy so dire that you should have tucked an eyepatch into the cassette case.
posted by klangklangston at 5:51 PM on November 30, 2009


"In my nearly 20 year adventure with techno, it's my experience that when people say techno isn't actually music haven't ever actually heard techno or bothered to actually listen to it."

That's entirely fair, I say as someone now too fat to fit into the shirt I got for volunteering at the first DEMF. On the other hand, I can't hate club music just because I'm too fat to fit into my DEMF shirt, too sober to wear giant pants, and too old to get anyone to sell me E.

(I'd volunteer it to you, Loq, but it's a medium that I believe was sized for the Indonesian children who made it.)
posted by klangklangston at 5:55 PM on November 30, 2009


Really liked the tune, empath. Thanks for sharing. I wasn't familiar with soundcloud until I listened to your song there. Thought perhaps a group there for sounds that don't fit on MeFi Music might be something people would appreciate.

http://soundcloud.com/groups/metafilter-music
posted by terrapin at 12:48 PM on December 1, 2009


(it's not a song, btw, it's a dj mix of other people's music)
posted by empath at 1:23 PM on December 1, 2009


I did listen to over an hour of it, so I was aware of that. Glad you took the time to edumacate this old fart.
posted by terrapin at 2:07 PM on December 1, 2009


I also have a couple of sets up on soundcloud, and just joined the mefi group there! If you like house you may enjoy what I have up there...
posted by flaterik at 3:24 PM on December 2, 2009


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