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?
12 Comments
HobbitFoot@thelemmy.club · 19 pts · 2y
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.
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 2y
"Old Town Road" is a great mention, I hadn't even thought of that when I wrote my parent comment
snekerpimp@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 2y
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?
AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y
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.
Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 2y
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.
disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
zelifcam@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y
astrsk@kbin.run · -5 pts · 2y
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.
zelifcam@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 2y
Iamsqueegee@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 2y
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”.
AndrewZabar@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y
Why sell a song once when you can sell it twice?
scytale@lemm.ee · 3 pts · 2y
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.
9tr6gyp3@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 2y
Ive always called them collaborations, or "collabs". Not sure of thats the official term for it or not.
PP_BOY_@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 2y
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
Brkdncr@lemmy.world · -1 pts · 2y
I’ve seen these called “edits” and more rarely a “rework”
You’re right it’s not a remix.
zelifcam@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 2y