One of the distinct advantages of Web 2.0 is that it has helped not only in democratizing art but also facilitating its creation. As a (former) musician, I adore that people now have the technology to create music irrespective of temporospatial boundaries and without onerous financial investments. Musicians can now live in disparate parts of the country or world and still make music together thanks to file-sharing and reasonably-priced software. Another outgrowth of this phenomenon is the culture of mash-ups. To give a brief bit of background, mash-ups are essentially additions to or the manipulation of previously recorded material. 

One of the earliest and most notable examples of mash-ups was known as 'The Grey Album," which was released by an artist named Dangermouse in 2004. The Grey Album combined previously recorded music by the Beatles and Jay-Z. Predictably, EMI, the owner of the Beatles recording copyrights balked and distributors of the Grey Album were sent Cease and Desist letters although ultimately (and perhaps due to digital civil disobedience), no one was ever brought to court. Today mash-ups are common, and even a cursory search of YouTube will yield a plethora of mash-ups; some good, some not so good, but all interesting as a form of participatory culture that was not possible prior to the advent of Web 2.0.

HERE is a link to one of Danger Mouse's original mixes, what do you think?



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