The Politik remix competition - what’s in it for you and me!!

I think it’s no secret that I like remix’s, or should I say I like producing remix’s. There are quite a few reasons for this:

• they’re always a great source of inspiration and fresh musical ideas
• I always learn a lot from doing a remix, about production techniques and programming as well as about who I am as an artist and my musical direction and focus.
• they can be a great source of network and collaboration contacts, I’ve met some amazing artists through doing remix’s and continue to keep in touch and work with most of the artists I’ve done remix swaps with.

At the moment I don’t usually get paid for my remix’s, they are usually done as a remix swap (you do one for me, I do one for you) or in exchange for some vocals or keys on one of my tracks. At this early stage in my production career I need contacts and collaborators more than payment in cash, further down the line I think that money will become more of a factor in my remix’s but for now it’s about the music and the people.

Many producers don’t actually like to get involved with remix competitions created by artists to get free tracks for a future release where the contributor wont actually get paid for their work or give the contributor any royalties from the sales of the remix album.

For me it comes down to the fact that I need exposure and publicity more than I need a tiny percentage of an artists release. The Politik’s recently announced remix competition is a prime example of a great opportunity for up and coming producers out there. Yes you won’t get paid for it, but you will get:

• your track released at no cost to yourself which for most independent producers could save a huge amount of money.
• a high level of exposure on the back of a potentially great release from two of the most talented artists in their field (yes I’m a bit of a fan).
• the competition is being judged by Bembe Segue + Mark de Clive-Lowe, Benji B (Deviation 1xtra), Phil Asher (restless soul) and Afronaught (coopr8/Bugz in the Attic). If that isn’t great exposure I don’t know what is!

I obviously need to be one of the chosen few to get the full benefit from entering but even if I don’t get on the release it’ll still be a great inspiration to write a new track around those killer parts. As a producer simply checking out the vocal mix on it’s own has been a great learning experience. Head over to the competition page to download the tracks and good luck. I’d be interested to know what you think about remix’s and your motivations for doing them, or not??

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