Remixing the art, as opposed to the art of remixing... Originally, vinyl singles had an A side & a B side, the B side being a different song usually written & recorded specifically for the single. Frequently these B sides were very good-- sometimes becoming bigger hits than the A sides. The Beatles' Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single is just one example. Then came CD singles & our first experience of remixes rather than different tracks. Frequently these remixes were no good & we thought, 'What the heck? We're being cheated here!' But we didn't realise for a while that remixes have little to do with the original song. The remixes were often there to provide a better drug experience (think House, Rave, etc). Then the remix became the single itself to revive interest in the original single & album it was culled from (think commerce here). Nowadays of course the single is moribund, replaced by the video of the song. The record companies haven't realised this yet & so they are complaining about 'music piracy'. I think if they started selling albums in video single form, they would probably start making money again.
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