You may have heard of this band before. Their name is Depeche Mode and Beatport is running a remix competition for the band’s new single called Mute. Remix competitions can be a great way for bands to get a bit of hype and publicity for their releases. Blogs and information sites, such as Heads Will Roll, will write some positive information about your band sounding all excited. Once producers find out about the comp and get some time on it they’ll start emailing out their remixes to show off their sound, thus creating further hype and buzz about your act, this also can lead to even better versions of a bands material being released, better song, still attached to a bands name, makes a band, particularly an older band look fresh and exciting. However what you really don’t want to do is make producers pay for the parts of the song they need to remix. What that does is discourage producers and create negative buzz, such as this article, about the band.
Now after that rant, some of you still might be keen so all the information about this competition can be found here. The remix parts of the song cost USD $3.99 each, and there are a few parts to this song. The entries close May 26, and this is when the public can start voting for their favourite remixes. The winner will be announced June 25. Now the instructions state, “you do not need to download the WAV files to enter the remix contest.” But since you are forbidden from using any samples not cleared for the competition that kind of prohibits you from creating your own samples from the song to use in the competition. Maybe someone will purchase the files and accidentally publish them online. The prizes for your hard work and cash are actually pretty amazing though with the best item being a Jazzmutant Lemur, which for the uninitiated is a very expensive musical instrument used by artist like Daft Punk.
Prizes:
A Native Instruments Maschine – groove production studio
A Jazzmutant Lemur multitouch controller
A Pacemaker portable DJ system
V-Moda headphones
$250 Beatport gift card
Here’s an image of Daft Punk using a pair of Jazzmutant Lemurs during their performance at the Grammy awards.
Hello.
You make some very good comments about this and other competitions like it.
A couple of things though:
Mute is Depeche Mode’s record label. ‘Peace’ is the name of the single.
You do not have to download the wavs (which are a staggering £28.00) but can choose to work with the much cheaper (but lacking in quality) MP3s.
I ummed and aahed about this one. But I’m a long standing DM fan and the chance to remix one of their tracks was too good an opportunity to miss – albeit with fairly bad quality MP3s.
I’ve been ‘at it’ as the say over the bank holiday weekend and must say the $3.99 has been worth it as I’m having so much fun doing it. It will go on my myspace page (when it’s up) and I’m learning new skills in Cubase.
I do agree with you questioning the morals of all of this though.
Scott
Yeah big typo there, Peace is the name of the track involved in this remix competition. Thanks Scott for your keen eyes, hope your remix turns out well.
Couldn’t agree more!
That’s why we won’t list competitions that require you to pay for parts! How can it be right that you spend hours giving away your talents and pay for it?
Good article and big respect!
There was a time where you got the remix files of I feel loved for free….
NINE INCH NAILS give all tracks of nearly all ALBUMS from them FOR FREE… Didnt learn Depeche Mode from this ?
check out remix.nin.com – a large remix community where many creative people remix, upload their tracks and vote… ALL FOR FREE…
THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE …
F$ck for big prices … its about the music….
where can i get the source files?
they not available on beatport anymore..
The competition ended in May so more than likely beatport removed the files around that time. You could possibly try searching through a torrent service if you still wanted the files.
Beatport are being totally rediculess about these remix competitions.
Basically, ever since Mute records was sold to EMI, every single of DM which was released was a real disaster.Anyone who’s femiliar with their earlier Maxi releaes knows that these were all masterpieces. Suddenly EMI give all sort of DJ’s and home producers to make all sort of real lousy Electro-House versions, to try and make it to the dancefloor while DM musis is got far away from there since years.
All of these remixes don’t even worth an MP3 download, EMI want to keep the title Depeche Mode and create a buzz and maybe find better remixers and therefore you got these Remix competitions. Basically, as a remixes, if all I get is a promised price of software which I can always download from wherever, it’s not really attractive, and definitely NOT if I have to pay for real lousy MP3 files (why not WAV/AIF???) , which are offered to download as many ZIP files with a code protection and you don’t know what’s in it untill you finish downloading (Basically, you need the VOX channel, so why would I pay for them all?)
If EMI/Mute want to promote a single by announcing a Remix competition, they should do this in their own official website and get acess and chance to anyone who would like to take the time and effort for this project. If they will upload their work on youtube, then EMI woill block them for breaking their copyrights rules, so what sort of Media exposure do the offer?
Therefore, all you left in this Remix competition is with some real suckers which the major label can buy them and use their skills for there own prophet, while they also get payed $3.99 per Zip file for it…
This is far then just real-cheap manpower. This is artists abuse in it’s best!!
Even prostitution is much worthy business then remixing it, but I guess that after all – “People Are People” and there are many “Fools” out there who are agree to this kind of “Master & Servant” game and therefore – “Everything Counts” in a very LARGE AMOUNT… $$