The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Hey everyone! I'm in the band Mason Proper and we're doing a remix contest for one of our songs, "Safe for the Time Being." You can listen to the song on our myspace:

http://www.myspace.com/masonproper

The winner will get $333, strangely enough, and have their remix featured on an upcoming Mason Proper release.

You can download the stems and read the fine print here:
http://www.dovecoterecords.com/mpremix

I'm looking forward to hearing the entries from the more experienced remixers around here!

hey guys,
this is chris from indianapolis.
i've seen you play a couple times in town and have really enjoyed your live shows.
i have a pretty good live recording of your show at (i think it was) spin night club last year.
good luck on the remix contest, but you should really enter a fight or two to really get the flavor here.
later.

Thanks Chris!

I should said in the above post, I know it's not a song fight persay, since it isn't writing a song. More just something I thought might be of interest to some of the people interested in doing things like song fights. I will admit I've been more of a troll on this site than anything else, checking it out from time to time but never entering any fights

hey, drop a line at remixfight.comorg.
-bill

or perhaps remixfight.org

the fine print:

All remixes submitted for this contest become the legal property of Dovecote Records LLC.
All trademarks and logos are protected. All rights of the producer and the owner of the recorded work are reserved. Unauthorized copying, hiring, renting, public performance and broadcasting of this record, remix or remix parts is prohibited.
You may upload your remix to Myspace and other online sites but it must be clearly named as a 'Mason Proper Remix Contest Entry." You may not sell or release the remix for ANY compensation whatsoever.

and bill is kind of slow.

aaaaah, remixfight. perfect! thanks for the tip, i hadn't found that site. i'll leave it up here in case anybody is interested, even though remix fight is clearly the more appropriate for this particular contest!

haha, i knew org. brainfart. oh, and restrictive "rights" like that aren't going to gain you many interested parties, i think, compared to something cc-licensed...
-bill

Commercially released cover versions are copyrighted arrangements owned by the cover artist. Not sure how remixes are handled as far as the arrangement goes, although performance rights should remain with the performing artists.

I apologize for pointing out the error in the url.

If I'd have read the fine print, I wouldn't have wanted to help you at all.

I hope someone slaps you in the face when you get over to remixfight.

Thanks, Jack. I might have almost participated in this, if not for your insight.

Like hell I'm going to give away the rights to something I've created for a chance to win a measly sum. I know it's a derivative work and everything, but you guys are just fucking gluttons. Go die in a fire.

CDO!
-bill

HeuristicsInc wrote:CDO!
-bill

CDO, lol. That's how we say it now? Can we just use an image so we don't even have to type it anymore? A literalism?

Well, you know, they probably didn't really understand what they were asking and just threw together some boilerplate they found on the internet somewhere. I mean, they probably aren't evil people trying to get rich on the herculean labours of us poor sods, since that is a particularly dumb world-domination plan.

I bet they just want to put out an ep with the winning remix on it, among other things. It's a huge hassle for them to worry about paying you, teh winnar, the dollar fifty you'd earn in royalties off the dozen copies they sell online, and, frankly, asking for full rights is a way for them to avoid dealing with all that. It's not the best way, by a long margin, but it sure would be easy if it worked!

Anyway, I think "go die in a fire" is a bit harsh! Maybe some kind of painless death-in-your-sleep by heart attack or oxycontin overdose or something. That is, if they have to die at all, which they probably don't.


Thought experiment: If Trent Reznor released the sources to one of his songs and said he'd put the best remix on a new album, wouldn't you enter even if you had to give up full rights? Has he done that already? I don't know, he may have.

HeuristicsInc wrote:CDO!

CDO?

Spud wrote:

HeuristicsInc wrote:CDO!

CDO?

Calm Down Oats

Ah. Why don't they have that on Wikipedia yet?

I just tried to add it, but I've never done it before and must have done it wrong. I don't see it.

Yeah - bit harsh Oatsey.

The dudes are offering a cash prize - and it is their own stuff being remixed. Good on 'em, I say.

I'll have a crack if I get time. I got no problems with them owning it forever and ever amen.

Well, you know. I don't mean what I say.

"Be harsh to the extent of causing minor controversy" was just on my to-do list today. Maybe every day.

No, but seriously. I'm not claiming that my music has any worth or whatever, and I give it away freely. BUT I absolutely do not make music so that someone other than myself can make money off of it.

As for the thought experiment: Is it really a question of principle? Would I surrender rights for a chance at exposure? It's possible, but I don't think it's likely. You're right that they probably won't make money off of it, but at the same time...I probably will not get any exposure from it. And for that, I'm never allowed to make money from it, even if I gave them their due royalties? Whatever.

Maybe this is ignoring the point of the question, but that doesn't really sound like Reznor at all. I believe he distributes source tracks under a creative commons license (share and share alike or something?), which states that derivative works are permitted, as long as they are released with the same license. I didn't look any of this up or anything, but I'm almost certain that it's not a serious possibility, if you meant to suggest that. Other artists, perhaps. But I'd prefer not to get tangled up in all that hoo-hah. I mean, I particularly admire Reznor for being so generous with his creative works.

If anyone wants to remix or cover my songs, they can keep all the rights as arrangers. Then again, I rarely offer cash prizes. You always have to give something up to get something, don't you?

well, oats, now that you've scared away those poor people, we'll continue the conversation. yes, ghosts, the newish nin album, was released under creative commons with BY-NC-SA - require attribution, non-commercial use only except if you work out a deal with the holder, and sharealike (the one you said). that's a pretty good license for a remix contest. the one that these guys are using is way too restrictive. if you had it on a website (allowed action) and you had an ad that generated revenue, they could sue you. or if somebody liked the remix and sent you $1 in a 'tip jar'. or if you performed a live remix that included their sounds. it is pretty common for the band remixed to release remixes and make a little money from the release, but usually only record company bands will have that sort of "we own everything" licenses.

i have to admit that in the early days of my remixing i did a couple under such draconian licensing schemes, but these days i don't want to put a bunch of time into something that i have no ownership over whatsoever.
-bill