Patrick O'Keefe

What do you all think about mixtapes? You see, I’m a big Bad Boy and Diddy fan (as well as other music, of course) and there is a lot of music that is out there on mixtapes that has never been released and probably will never be released, so I’ve been looking at buying some. But, I was also looking into them a bit from the legal standpoint, etc.

The funny thing is that it seems like it’s not (or is rarely) legal. But, that it is generally a legal illegal, if that makes any sense. In that it’s illegal, but the people who have the rights that are being infringed upon don’t really mind (or even like it) because it helps them promotion wise (i.e. it’s better to have a million people saying your name (even if they’re buying mixtapes), then have no one saying your name). So, it’s like it’s alright. But, still… is it? I’m been pondering the whole thing as the ethical princess that I am. The whole goofy “you’re buying the case and the artwork and the CD is free” thing doesn’t help.

I have a few quote, unquote mixtapes that were 100% straight in that they were released off a major label. I’m talking about Funkmaster Flex (60 Minutes of Funk, Volumes 2 and 3) and Clinton Sparks (Maybe You Been Brainwashed). But, that’s different and those are not what I am talking about – I’m not talking about major label releases. If I did buy some, I’m looking at buying them from MixUnit.com which promotes itself as selling “100% official masters” and is co-owned by Clinton Sparks who is a major mixtape DJ. So, I imagine that’s as good as it gets. You would think that a website that visible that has been that visible for a while would be seriously shut down if it was completely illegal and frowned down upon, but prehaps not. Hmm…

This entry was posted on Monday, August 15th, 2005 at 2:50 pm and is filed under General and Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.