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?
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I’ve seen these called “edits” and more rarely a “rework”
You’re right it’s not a remix.
The act of what is being done is a remix.
It’s like comparing Copying vs Plagiarism. There may be a term that adds more context on the how or why the copying is happening. But the act is still copying.
Copying vs. Plagiarism
- What’s being done: Reproducing someone else’s work (copying).
- Why it’s different: Plagiarism involves passing off someone else’s work as one’s own, typically without permission or acknowledgment.
- Term: Plagiarism
We may have a new term for the why it’s being done, but what was done is still a remix.
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.
Just different “versions” I think. No official name for it. I think one of the reasons for it is streaming and billboard charts. Getting more streams and sales by sharing the guest’s fanbase so both artists benefit. I think some type of versions also count as the same as the original song in billboard charts, so it allows artists to game the system and rise to the top in terms of sales and streams.
Ive always called them collaborations, or “collabs”. Not sure of thats the official term for it or not.
Why sell a song once when you can sell it twice?
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.
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.
In the past, these were just called remixes and were really common to find on b-sides of singles or deluxe editions of albums.
The two artists to really push it in the mainstream that I can think of, ironically, are Kanye West and Taylor Swif. Two of the most popular artists of the past few decades have made a big showing of a “living album,” one that exists digitally, centrally, and whose tracks can be changed really at anytime. I think that’s where most of the smaller artists you see putting out alternate versions of their songs post-release have gotten their inspiration from
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”.
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.
“Old Town Road” is a great mention, I hadn’t even thought of that when I wrote my parent comment
