Legitmix is one of the most innovative offerings I've seen to date.  It allows you to create legal, monetizable mixes that include copyrighted work without getting clearances. I'm going to focus on what it does but, if it survives future legal challenges, which may well come, and if it works properly with large numbers of users, Legitmix seems likely to be a huge success.

Legitmix Empowers Artists

Here's a great summary of what Legitmix does from their homepage titled "The Math Of The Mix":

"Legitmix is a simple-to-use browser-based software application. Artists use it to create Legitmix files for their works containing other people's copyrighted source music. The Legitmix file contains no audio and can't be played in any way. Fans use a Legitmix file, together with the Legitmix software, and their copies of the source music (in any digital format) to recreate an artist’s work on their computer."

"If a fan doesn’t already own the source music, the Legitmix music store provides an easy way to buy it. The recreated work is identical to the artist's version and is automatically imported into a fan’s music library along with their purchased source music."

Mix creators can sell their mixes via Legitmix. Copyright holders get paid when music is sold via Legitmix's music store and websites receive commissions on sales resulting from their referrals. Is this not a really smart solution to clearance and copyright concerns?

Legitmix's first public release was a Diplo/Mad Decent 40-minute set. However, last week El-P dropped "Rush Over Brooklyn", with a sample from Rush's "Tom Sawyer", that is the first official single release using Legitmix.

You can request an artist account whenever you're ready. Here's the FAQ for more info.

As clever a workaround as this is, I believe Legitmix will end up upsetting a lot of copyright holders and somebody is going to take them to court because that's just how things work. But, if they can survive legal attacks, I believe Legitmix has a bright future ahead.

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He currently maintains a writing hub at Flux Research and periodically blogs at All World Dance and This Business of Blogging. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.