Remixing Music

I think that remixing different Medias in general is so broad and open that the possibilities for creations are endless. The most popular form of remixing is definitely music. I feel like remixing, even though legally there may be issues with that, is altogether a good thing. Sometimes there are bad remixes that make the original song seem better than what it really is but sometimes there are great remixes to songs. First one that came to mind was Birthday Sex by Jeremiah. The regular song has a slow tempo (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYZXmY4aco8) but the version the radio played was the up-tempo version (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I7UZRlDsbk). The up-tempo version would be considered a remix. Another example is a song that unlike Birthday Sex, isn’t really well known is Anthonio by Annie. Here’s the link for the original song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpv3TBtUcTQ. And the more upbeat danceable Designer Drugs remix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMWopPgSGBs. These are just examples of upbeat remixes. But some people remix songs to make them more softer or just to slow it down. One example is Cascada’s Everytime We Touch song and the Candlelight Remix which is a much slower almost acoustic version where the lyrics are better appreciated. Another type of remix example is just adding in different parts to a song or having a different artist be featured in it. For example, for Ne-Yo’s Because of You song, in my iTunes itself I have three different remixes aside from the original version. The first remix is featuring Kanye West, the second remix is featuring Krayzie & Layzie Bone and the third (and my favorite remix) is featuring AC. It may be just the beginning part but I still feel like I’d listen to the AC remixed version any day over the other ones. Another (and last example I swear) is Bed by J. Holiday. That song has a remix featuring Nina Sky where they sing it as a duet as well as a girl version by Esha where only she sings it from a female’s perspective and another remix featuring Plies. Remixing in music serves to help make songs more likeable and enjoyable by different people. Like for example if you don’t really like house music then when it is remixed to be slower and you can really listen to the lyrics you might like it. Or for example you may not like country or pop songs. I’ve heard remixes to some Taylor Swift songs that have made it have a hip hop beat in the background and made it more danceable. Remixing is a great tool that I feel should be allowed to be used to edit all songs. When talking about legal issues that surround remixing songs, videos, literary pieces, etc., I feel that behind the “we want to protect what is originally ours” talk is the fact that they do not want anyone else to profit from their songs. Maybe a compromise for remixing could be that if the remix-er makes a significant amount of profit from the remixed music then they have to give a certain percent to the original owner of the music or other form of media that was remixed. What do you think about remixing music and media forms? Do you know of any good remixes that are worth sharing?