In the 90's the rise of what I like to call "same genre" remixes gained much popularity. For example a pop artist would release a single that was a traditional pop song in terms of melody, arrangement, and instrumentation, but would use a hip-hop or urban drum loop to give the track that "raw" edge. Top forty radio might be playing the song like crazy, but to get more play on urban stations the label would get a popular hip-hop producer to strip it down and add that "dirty" raw hip-hop element that most of us love so much. Often the producer would even get a popular hip-hop artist to add a rap that wasn't in the original song. The label would gain more play from different radio markets and could sell more singles as well. Many time you would buy a CD single and it would contain the original song, the urban remix, a dance remix, and sometimes even the instrumental versions of all the mixes.
Today in 2012 as the music industry is changing at light speed the concept of the remix as a promotional tool is at an all time high. Many artist no longer are counting on music sales for their predominant source of revenue, but the music as a way to promote other items such as live shows, merchandise, and other business ventures that do produce major income. In order for more exposure an artist must dominate the internet. A great way to gain tons of exposure on Google, Facebook, Twitter, and all the other social networks is to enter your single into a remix competition. For little to no money at all your single can be remixed by hundreds of producers around the world. All those producers are going to promote their remix which in turn promotes your song and most of all you. Take a few moments and really think about it. For a small investment you're getting hundreds of placements on all the social networks, blogs, and personal websites. Some forward thinking artist are taking advantage of this great new marketing concept, but not many.
