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Twin Town High (vol. 8) |
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Droplift? Can We Call Mix-N-Matchers Music Artists?
Wednesday 07 August @ 09:28:17 |
 by Louis Lenzmeier
I have to admit I am a fan of customization. I love to open something up and mess around with it to see what the end result will be. There are some people in the music industry who share the same sentiment.
These “mix-n-match” gurus like to customize music made by others and see what their end result will be. It’s quite fascinating, and it’s becoming a legitimate occupation for more than a few folks. Some have called it bootlegging, which is a legitimate argument, as they are not creating their own music. Obviously, artists who mix-n-match reject this line of thought, as they believe they are piecing together forgotten music and giving it a fresh perspective. This “fresh perspective” scenario, which is created without the permission of the artist or record label, is what is causing so much controversy.
The Droplift Project is one such group of people, who make a legitimate living—or attempt to—by piecing together many different sounds. They are a group of creative artists that prosper on the work of other, previously produced, artists. The Droplift Project is comprised of about 30 artists who have a mission of creating “free” music. They create their material by combining different pieces of song recordings, and, in some cases, sounds from spoken word recordings and television. They combine those elements to create what they claim is “new” material.
In their mission statement, they describe droplifting as the reverse form of shoplifting. The way they distribute their work is extremely unique. It is introduced to the public through what the group calls “droplifting”: smuggling discs into record stores without the knowledge of store management. They quietlyfile their CDs in the proper bin, alphabetically.
The artists that belong to the Droplift Project admit that this form of distribution is an ambitious stunt. They do it for a few reasons: First, they want to get their free music out to the public. Second, they hope their type of work becomes more openly discussed throughout the music community. Third, they want to bring attention to copyright laws and how confusing and outdated they are. They hope to precipitate a change in these laws.
When it comes to the law, and knowing and understanding it, the Droplift Project has its collective act together. They publish what amounts to a “Getting Started” guide that contains content about what the Droplift Project is all about. The guide is chocked full of copyright and anti-bootlegging laws that, they point out, do not apply to them. They can easily cite where they are not in violation of the law, and give substantial reasons as to why they are following it.
The central theme of the Project’s interpretation of the current copyright laws is that they are not absolute. They assert that the term “fair use” is a variable, that fair use of copyrighted work is not copyright infringement in every case. It’s a shady area because fair use applies to sampling previously produced music and commenting on it through a mix-n-match recording. The fair use concept is generally interpreted as conservative and absolute: this is what mix-n-match folks hope to change.
When it comes to the established music world, mix-n-match artists are against the corporate supremacy heald by corporate executives. They feel that the music big-wigs control the sound that gets out to the public and do not let a free, “homemade” sound get out.
As you can imagine, groups like Droplift are not really supported by any collective giant music firm. Droplift is a non-profit organization that exists from the donations of those people who support them (who are, on the whole, far from wealthy), and what they pay out of their own pockets. If fans donate at least $5 to the project, they receive a free copy of the current Droplift Project CD.
Many big labels are threatening legal action against artists and organizations of this type. The Droplift Project sees it as a blatant attempt to stifle free expression. Record labels think acknowledging these groups will increase the potential for possible allegations of piracy by artists from their own and other labels. They could also be black-labeled by the entire music industry in general. In their own minds, it would be a stigma that would be very difficult to overcome. Plus, corporate music giants don’t really call them artists, which brings up a controversial argument. Should mix-n-match artists, who take other artist material and mix them together, call it their own without citing or crediting where they got it?
Many mix-n-match artists, who may or may not belong to the Droplift Project, feel that what they create is music that has been found and no one can really lay claim too. They accept the fact that they do not create most of the work from scratch; but they do fit everything together, which takes a considerable amount of time and dedication.
It is clear that mix-n-match artists are not going away. It’s not a bunch of technically savvy kids sitting around and trying to come up with a way to make a few bucks. These are legitimate, knowledgeable music people. The music industry cannot continue to treat these artists as it has been, ignoreing or even threatening their existence. The industry could and should look for a way to do what they do best as business people: embrace this new way of making music, and try to make a few bucks.
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