There are many forms of remixing, though the most popular tend to involve videos and websites such as YouTube. Many forms of remix video have gained millions and millions of views between them - despite the fact that they often break copyright law. Having said this, remixing tends to be not-for-profit and thus is, in my opinion, a part of our culture that should be allowed, especially as the creativity of many people can influence what the large media conglomerates then do with their products.
This is the fundamental reason, in my opinion, why remix culture is important. It encourages creativity and convergence and is the main reason why our culture evolves - thanks to the innovation of the consumer. To discuss remix culture without an example would be silly, so here are two popular examples of remix culture - both in video and music.
Here is one of the more well known forms of remix culture, the subtitling of a scene from the famous film Downfall in order to alter the meaning of Hitler's rant:
This is a particularly interesting version of these Downfall parodies, as the parodies themselves have started to be removed from YouTube due to copyright claims from the movie's producers. This behaviour intrigues me, as millions of people have seen variations on these parodies - and they have brought much attention onto the film Downfall that would not have otherwise reached the movie.
This is, however, what remix culture comes down to: copyright. I believe that it is important for our culture as it shapes and evolves what we already have into something new and innovative. Yet, when it is stifled by media companies - it becomes very difficult for this creativity to actually break through.
Here is another example of remix culture - a video by 'DJ Earworm' who mixed the 25 top selling songs on the US Billboard Chart of 2009 into one single track and video:
This is an incredibly clever piece of music and video - and is a classic example of remixing at its best. Whilst the artist does not own the copyright to any of the songs, he has transformed them into something new and different - which has gained millions of views on YouTube in a short amount of time.
Remix culture is not completely ignored by companies though. the BBC recently encouraged remixing when it offered the EastEnders theme tune up for manipulation for its new online TV drama: http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/e20/behindscenes/theme_tune.shtml.
This shows that not everybody views remixing as bad - especially when permission is given. I believe that even without the respective copyright permission, remix and participatory culture are vital to our society - due to the nature of the innovation and ideas. Without ideas like these our culture would be stagnant, and it is important that media always evolves due to the intelligence of its consumers - who are big enough fans of certain products to spend their spare time working with the media to converge and create something brand new.
