Mashup culture: the Bootie Nightclub Phenomenon

photo by Leo Herrera

Adrian & Mysterious D, a pair of San Francisco DJ’s, started a monthly “mashup” night at a small club in 2003. Then they moved to the DNA lounge, the current home of Bootie SF. Guest DJs spin their own mashups and live music performances are common. This is all out in the open. Only one mashup track from last year’s “best of” compilation was subject to a complaint from a label, so far. 

Bootie is now a small international empire, serving a market that obviously isn’t being served by the music industry. Key to avoiding legal trouble is the way they profit: from people paying the $12 cover charge, minus the cut the venue takes ($15 for special events such as the upcoming seven year anniversary party)

No royalties, no products for sale, just ongoing live events where people are paid to spin or perform. 

Check out the reviews on Yelp:

The house band, Smash Up Derby, is FANTASTIC. (in 29 reviews)

In the end, I had a fabulous time drinking and dancing to mash-ups. (in 33 reviews)

The mashups are amazing, and I love the eclectic crowds. (in 38 reviews) 

To sell a mashup you would need to negotiate with all rights holders for everything, because there is no compulsory license for such use. Up-front fees for one mashup could run from the thousands to the hundreds of thousands of dollars, just for the privilege of selling it on iTunes. Per-item fees could be greater than total sale price. Only the labels can really sell mashups, which seems to finally be a big deal with the upcoming Gaga remixed album.

That said, most of the mashups premiered at Bootie events are available for free download at their blog.

Other resources:

• Bootie on Twitter
• Bootie on Facebook

Disclosure: I’ve met A+D, I’m a fan/friend of theirs, so much so I wanted them to join me and attend Larry Lessig’s “Remix” book gala, but they couldn’t. He wasn’t familiar with A+D at the time.

Bolero Bill v3 (Ravel goes to war)

When I listen to certain film composers, it is sometimes immediately apparent they are fans of Ravel’s music. While Ravel himself didn’t consider Boléro an important piece, it has “gone viral” somewhat — probably due to the catchy rhythm that drives it relentlessly forward. When I heard Ennio Morricone using that rhythm in a sound track, it was an immediate cue, and a natural choice for a remix against Boléro. I also think any “warhorse” piece which has been over-played or misused is fair game.

Wikiepedia: Boléro

Boléro became Ravel’s most famous composition, much to the surprise of the composer, who had predicted that most orchestras would refuse to play it.^[3] It is usually played as a purely orchestral work, only rarely being staged as a ballet. According to a possibly apocryphal story, at the premiere a woman shouted that Ravel was mad. When told about this, Ravel smiled and remarked that she had understood the piece.^[6]

Imagine in your mind the villain from Diva (1981) — but instead of polka music, he’s listening to Boléro over and over… while he merrily commits terrible violence. The guns, brass, vocals and signature whistling are courtesy of Morricone. The ending was difficult, as I’m combining two separate recordings of Bolero; it has to have a “big finish” — a.k.a. fortissi-issi-issi-issi-issimo. One trick employed here is substitution sleight-of-hand; the “jump cut” out of Morricone is made possible by the two chords which lead to the “coda” in Boléro. Also, in the development I wove the theme onto itself to provide additional interest, since everyone knows the piece so well.

Maurice Ravel Ennio Morricone - Bolero Bill v3.mp3 (15:23 19.2M)

Da Capo al Fine v3 - Wise Guy Mix (homage to Godfather & Sopranos)

This sort of “sound track remix” is quite illegal technically but when approached correctly is unlikely to be a subject of legal proceedings. For example, under the last half of the Sopranos theme an original track was added to the mix. The title is a play on the musical direction “from the head to the end” - which you can also take to mean “from the Mafia Boss to the gunshot.”

Instrument doubling for the Godfather waltz is accomplished by carefully editing together sections of two separate recordings. There is a side-trip to Chicago included in the Godfather section. One can’t omit the Tarantella - but where to put it? Knitting together the two broad sections required a transition to the natural key of the Sopranos theme. I’m very careful to preserve original pitch and meter, which stems from the overall mandate to retain the “audio fidelity” of the sources.

It is quite unfortunate that content owners consider the musical themes to such classics as these ongoing profit vehicles. In my perfect world, the composers would be well-paid, up front, and ongoing royalties would come from film and television broadcasts. The theme music itself can be considered an advertisement for that content, and could be released into the wild, for “fair use” by musicians, producers, DJs and other culture jammers and trouble makers.

Da Capo al Fine v3 (wise guy mix) 
Henri Mancini Ennio Morricone Nino Rota Alabama 3 

ca·po ²   (kä’pō, kāp’ō) 
n.   pl. ca·pos
The head of a branch of an organized crime syndicate.

Da Capo al Fine v3 (Wise Guy Mix).mp3 (11:21 15.21M)

Rupert the Murdoch Reign Dear (Holiday song)

Rupert the red-nosed mogul 
Has a very large empire 
And if you saw his holdings 
You’d see things are very dire

All of the other moguls 
Used to laugh and call him names 
They never let poor Rupert 
Play in any mogul games

Then one bearish Christmas eve 
Greenspan came to say 
“Rupert with your gold so bright 
Won’t you buy some bonds tonight?” 

Then all the moguls loved him 
As they shouted out with glee 
“Rupert the red-nosed mogul 
You’ll own all of history!”

Glee Television Show (Fox)

• UPDATE: Season 1 ended June 8, 2010 with episode 22
• UPDATE: Kristen Chenoweth returns in episode 16!
• UPDATE: Live performance by Glee cast at bottom. Show returns April 13, 2010
• UPDATE: Removed the “Single Ladies” clip because Fox is idiotic, and has issued a take-down.
• UPDATE: Added the recent video clip of the Glee football team doing “Single Ladies”
• UPDATE: Added Bootie SF’s Its My Life Confessions Pt. II A+D Bootie Edit

This new Fox show about a Glee club at a high school has capitalized on the popularity of American Idol, and premiered a few months ago, before the Fall premiere season. The critics love it apparently, and I do too. Here is the show’s blurb:

From Ryan Murphy, the creator of “Nip/Tuck,” comes Glee, a new comedy for the aspiring underdog in all of us.

The series follows an optimistic teacher, Will Schuester (Matthew Morrison), who — against all odds and a malicious cheerleading coach — attempts to save McKinley High’s Glee Club from obscurity, while helping a group of aspiring underdogs realize their true star potential.

Episodes one through five are available now on Hulu, and episode five “The Rhodes Not Taken” scores a significant win in casting Kristin Chenoweth. She’s a very real star of the musical stage, and has branched out to television. I think it’s quite a compliment to the show that she accepted this “guest star” part. She would “love to come back and do more”, as she says in the embedded interview below. She’s quite a talented actress and comedian in addition to her undeniable musical gifts.

Insider tip: this and another reviewer are certain that the character Kristin plays in Glee is an homage to Jerri Blank, the character created by Amy Sedaris in Strangers With Candy.

Kristin Chenoweth on Glee - Watch more Videos at Vodpod.

The Fox site now has a few full episodes available to watch on-demand (streaming). Don’t bother looking for episodes on the Fox site, unless you want to install a “special player” on your computer.

I usually don’t post geographically limited or content subject to removal, but what starts on network TV will eventually make its way around the world, to DVD rental, cable TV and your local TV stations. Apologies to readers outside the U.S. — I’ve embedded Hulu’s Glee, episode 22 below.

“The cast of Glee performed this morning at the White House Easter Egg Roll. Watch their final number (with a few audio issues)”

Yes there are a few audio issues! Regardless, this is actually a very good sign, because I promise you they are not using “auto-tune” here. The song doesn’t matter. The audio issues don’t matter. What does matter is that the cast is performing live, each one singing better than Miley Cyrus ever will. If you can’t stay on pitch, or are sloppy, you can not sing in an ensemble. I did not expect them to sound this good live, Glee being a television show (and 2 audio cds) with access to the studio producer’s bag of tricks.

Audio “issues” like this happen frequently with live events, especially when microphones, amplification and poor acoustics are in play.

Glee Cast Its My Life Confessions Pt. II A+D Bootie Edit

Update on 20091002 at 11:30 by richardwalker

Hulu forums can be quite YouTube-like in their content and “trollish” rating. Glee seems to be a magnet for all homophobic haters of anything involving “singing” or “performing.”

Here are three Glee “discussion topics” on Hulu that are about gay issues or are examples of “homo panic,” most recent first. The first is tiny and new, but the other two are quite large.

Is this a show specifically made for the gays to watch? (5 entries)

Am i gay if im a guy and like this show? (99 entries)

that gay guy (67 entries)

Update on 20100125 at 17:16 by richardwalker

Glee picked up for second season; Madonna and Olivia Newton-John to guest star

UPDATE: via Daily Beast

Remember when Glee did Madonna’s “Vogue” a few weeks ago? Well, we are so over that—the new hotness is Tuesday’s remake of Olivia Newton-John’s “Physical,” starring the England-born-Australia-raised songstress as herself, and Jane Lynch as tracksuit enthusiast Sue Sylvester.

via E Online

Astrid Stawiarz/Getty Images; Jeff Vespa/Getty Images

Glee isn’t going anywhere!

Not that it comes as a huge shock, but Fox announced this morning that Glee has been given an early pickup for its second season.

Even better, they’re doing a nationwide casting call for three new characters, which will air as a multipart special leading up to the season-two premiere.

And wait a minute, holy blondelicious goodness…What’s this about Olivia Newton-John and Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) sharing screen time on Glee?

Jane just told us exclusively:

“I’m so excited I can’t see straight! [Olivia] provided the soundtrack for my tortured adolescence. Her charitable work and commitment to making others’ lives and the life of the planet better is so inspiring.”

Update on 20100405 at 14:31 by richardwalker

New Episode of ‘Glee’ Directed by Joss Whedon, Starring Neil Patrick Harris

One of the season’s new episodes will be directed by evil genius Joss Whedon and will guest star Neil Patrick Harris as a washed up former show choir member… who always got all the chicks when he was in the choir with Will, whom he now considers his arch nemesis.