Legality of posting DJ mixes online.

How do Internet radio stations work legally? Do they technically need licenses?

(I know I'm being a bit of a stickler here, but I want to have a money-making aspect of the site, too, so best to be 100% in the clear.)

No seriously. I've been running one such website for 7 years, licensed & subsidized. Sure I'm not in the US nor in Europe (nor in Russia or whatever for that matter) but when there's a will there's a way.

Is it a matter of hosting in a foreign country? Where are you?

Are you saying it is illegal to host in the US or not?

It is illegal to copy music and give it to people.

It is illegal to play music on the radio unless properly licensed.

Don't even get into music publishing and and mechanical royalties and in the case of the DJ mix you have the music and the DJ to contend with. Not that the DJ can stake any claim unless the DJ licensed the original tracks to begin with.

I'm going to give up on trying to get permission to allow streaming/download of any more mixes or edits I put up. Warp and Zomby both refused outright, with Zomby being quite forthright about the whole thing (one track re-edited).

Isn't time artists/labels began to embrace these as a free promotional aid?

isn't it time....

Did they find you or did you ask them first, TS?

Dunno about DJ mixes, but working up an edit and putting it up seems like it falls squarely under fair use to me, no?

with Warp I asked them first (DJ mix of solely Autechre tracks) and with Zombie I put it up and informed the label and artist.

the chances of them coming across the mix/re-edit in the first place is slim so fuck it...

there's a discussion to be had about copyright/fair use and opposition to unauthorised usage by labels/artists, especially those that are involved in dance music where sampling is the lifeblood of the art. prob already been had.

There is the law and then there is reality.

Technically, according to the law, you do not have the right to sample or reproduce copyrighted works. That means that you are breaking the law when you edit or podcast someone's music. In theory, you can be sued. Editing and online mixes are not covered by fair use.

The reality is that it costs money to sue someone for copyright breech and unless there is a pot to dip into, there isn't a point. IE, a mediocre disco edit mp3 on a blog or a 250 pressing underground 12" is usually going to fall under the radar. Most of the lawsuits regarding copyright are about getting money that rightfully belongs to the copyright holder. Some musicians have a hair in their ass about being sampled from a philosophical perspective, but for most people it is a money thing.

My records have been podcasted about 50 times in the last year. Shake, John Daly, Lerosa, Scott Ferguson, Specter, and Placid have dropped my tracks in free mixes. For every one of those guys there have been about seven other bedroom DJ's who have dropped the records in online mixes.

As an artist, the upside has been seeing online shops reorder records after certain mixes dropped. I know objectively that online mixes have driven sales of my physical product. I also know that people have gotten in touch with me from places I never would have expected because of those mixes.

The downside of the explosion of free online mixes is that it has severely impacted the sales of commercial mix CD's and therefore the licensing fees that artists used to be able to count on as a revenue stream. You couldn't get rich from mix licensing fees in 90's, but you could build a decent studio with the cash. I no desire for a mansion or a Cadillac, but a new keyboard every once in a while would be nice.

I don't have a problem with people using my music in online mixes because they had to buy the record in order to do it in the first place. Also, it isn't like there is a revenue stream coming from those mixes that I am being unfairly denied my fair share of. I suppose it is more ethical than the mixtape business of the 90's. At least no one else is making money from selling my music without my permission.

As far as the remix thing goes, the law isn't what you need to worry about. If you want to do something for your own DJ set, I don't most would care, but don't release it. I imagine a lot of people would take issue with someone editing their music without permission and releasing it online. They might not sue you for it, but there is a good ole boys(and girls) network and they might make sure that people knew to lock you out of it. That includes shop owners, distributors, journalists, labels, and DJ's.

with Warp I asked them first (DJ mix of solely Autechre tracks) and with Zombie I put it up and informed the label and artist.

Your deal with Zombie was a pretty serious faux pas actually. Nothing personal, but that wasn't the thing to do.

Isn't time artists/labels began to embrace these as a free promotional aid?

The problem with this kind of thinking is that most of the time people are doing these remixes because they are trying to piggyback on someone else's work. Autechre and Zombie don't know you, and don't need you. Your intentions might be pure, but it would be easy for these guys to think that they only person you are "helping" with these mixes and edits is yourself.

And again, nothing personal, I will give you the benefit of the doubt and believe that you are doing it for the right reasons. Just be aware that the people you are approaching might not need anything that you have to give them and might consider it presumptuous that you feel qualified to change something they created. Please don't take this as an insult, it is advice because what you are doing is a great way to make people not want to work with you. Your intentions might be good, but they might perceive ulterior motives.