In Strict Tempo, vol. 104: To Remix or Not Remix?

The hot streaming topic this week (when is there ever not one?) is that Spotify want to allow users to be able to ‘remix’ songs within the platform. At a time when there’s already millions of new releases going onto the platform every month, and the fact that the vast majority of stuff on there won’t ever attract more than a handful of streams, I’m unsure of why anyone - most of all Spotify who’ll have to host all these remixes - thinks it’s a good idea.

DSP’s are already fairly poor in supporting official remixes from labels - their thinking (and I agree with them on this to a point) being that pushing remixes on the platform will just encourage labels to flood each release with remixes in order to boost release radar popularity and game the charts. We already saw something similar in the 1990’s when major labels would commission loads of remixes of the most unlikely songs (Armand Van Helden’s remix of Cotton Eye Joe, anybody?) in order to push tracks higher up the charts. Remixes delivered to DSPs tend not to get anywhere near the same amount of support in playlists even if they’re a genuinely original new version of the track.

Looking deeper at the announcement, it looks as if Spotify are going to use “AI” too allow users to remix content on the platform. Quite how this going to work remains to be seen, and this just gives more credence to the viewpoint that AI is just attempting to answer questions nobody is asking. From a rights holder perspective, who gets the final approval on these remixes, and more importantly who gets paid? The user who types “Beatles day in the life techno remix” into whatever shitty AI tool they’ll use to power this? Spotify themselves? I mean they’re not going to implement this tech for free are they?

I saw an interesting viewpoint the other day in that the proliferation of AI slop we’re seeing all over the internet is actually because most people aren’t actually that creative. AI tools only shit out as good as they get put into them, and most peoples prompts just aren’t that good. I’m sure a decent musician or graphic designer could use an AI model to enhance their work if wanted, but if someone like me - someone who isn’t a musician - wanted to make something good then I’m not going to be able to. Could I have the vision to remix a track the same way the best artists can? Not a chance.

I still think we’re due an AI reckoning, when eventually there’ll just be so much crap flooding platforms that actual good music will be completely lost and impossible to surface. How these platforms deal with that is what’s going to define the ones who survive and the ones who drown in a sea of terrible AI remixes.

Personally, I love a good remix, and enjoy hearing them, especially if they’ve been crafted with the intention of adding a new twist to an old favourite. There’s definitely a home for remixes in the streaming landscape, and they’re still an important part of release plans, as well a crucial tool to drive a record in the clubs. But allowing anybody to create a remix based off a prompt? I’m not sure that’s going to add much to anything, for anyone.

This Week’s Music

VA - The Black Hill, The Glass Sky [Somewhere Press]

Dreamlike, ethereal compilation of new music from the always-excellent Somewhere Press. One of those comps that will go on to prove timeless, no doubt.

Quiet Husband - Lands [N3Wlow]

Another selection of fragmented, nightmarish techno from Richie Culver’s Quiet Husband alias. There’s a strong dreamlike thread running through this weeks In Strict Tempo, and this one fits the bill perfectly, Culver’s considered approach to sound design lifting this above the raft of 4/4 that passes for techno these days.

Velv.93 - Lobelia [Stroom]

Scandi ambient recalling the mid-90’s heyday (Biosphere, etc.) of the genre via Sweden’s Velv.93. Slowly evolving like a deep fog rolling across icy plains, let this one encompass you.

Intertoto - Siccar Point [What About Never]

Remember the Intertoto cup? Even 90’s football die-hards will not-so-fondly remember the weird tournament that was a pathway for qualification for the more prestigous UEFA cup, and was won by such giants as Guingamp, Malaga and err… Fulham. Anyway. This is nothing to do with that, but instead an album of broadly dubby techno, the likes of which is enjoying a bit of a resurgence right about now.

Asher Levitas & Margaret Fiedler McGinnis - Through These Red Windows [Beyond The Valley]

Four foggy, drifting pieces from sound artist and Old Apparatus member Asher Levitas, joining multi-instrumentalist Margaret Fiedler McGinnis for this short EP of haunting tracks. The tracks recall a recurring nightmare suffered by Levitas and I reckon it would spook me hearing this kind of stuff in my dreams.