I don’t normally listen to much pop music, so I know I’m a bit late to the party on this one. But I’ve noticed that in modern pop music, artists will sometimes release a “normal” version of a song, then a few weeks later they’ll release the same song again, except one of the verses is replaced with a feature. It’s not a remix, it’s just the same song but with another artist singing some different lyrics.
Is there a name for this type of song? How long has this been going on? When was this trend started?
Remixes have been around for a while. However, the current trend is thought to have been started with Lil Nas X with “Old Town Road”.
Part of what made that song blow up was tons of remixes across different genres of music, which all counted as the same song when it came to the charts. This allowed for the song to be tweaked to different musical tastes while still giving the appearance of a mainstream hit.
So now, if you are a musician who wants to inflate their numbers, you can plan out remixes to be released at different times.
It’s a remix. They used to be called b-side songs. 19-2000 by gorillas is a good example. I guess with the loss of physical media and everyone streaming, it’s just easier and probably nets more streams by just releasing b-sides a few weeks after the initial release?
I guess with the loss of physical media and everyone streaming, it’s just easier
Yeah, this was the norm for musicians for most of human history, before the introduction of mass-reproduced recordings in the early 20th century (and music copyrights in the 18th). Musicians were continually re-working all their compositions, meeting new collaborators and mixing up their repertoires, etc.
I remember that happening in the 90s. Sugar Ray, I just want to fly had a second version that added a rapper in the background.
Not saying they started it, but that’s an early example I remember.
It’s called a “remix” and I wouldn’t call it a recent trend. Sometimes the song was shorter or longer. Perhaps featuring a guest artist or alternative lyrics. Maybe even a previous mix of the same song.
It’s not a remix
New tracks and some or all of the original tracks were used to mix a new version of the song.
It’s a remix.
I disagree. It’s not a remix, it’s a rework/edit which is designed to maximize the amount of streaming revenue on platforms such as Spotify. We saw the same thing with “skit” songs and interludes as well as 30+ track album releases. All to get more plays on streaming, at the expense of the art.
I have no idea what you’re on about. The intention of making the song doesn’t matter. So the artist wants more money by releasing remixes of their popular songs. Whether it’s for more money, extra tracks for the fans or bringing in friends or other artists to collaborate. What they are doing is releasing a remix.
I feel like you’re too hung up on the “why” and ignoring the “what”. Just because someone recently noticed it was happening, doesn’t make it new or something different.
If you take tracks from a song and add/remove/re-arrange it into a new release. It’s a remix.
Remix - To recombine (audio tracks or channels from a recording) to produce a new or modified audio recording.
E: I’ll meet you half way. If someone coins a term for releasing remixes solely for profit, then we can call it that. But it’s still a remix.
A remix will add stuff to the original album version of the song. When the album version has the stuff and it’s removed, that becomes the “radio edit”.
