Should you allow your music to be remixed
With
Katie MeluaImogen Heap reflects on remixes - why she has turned most down, and when letting someone rework your music is worth saying yes to.
What's in the course
40 lessons (2h 33m) · 1 free
01. Getting started, open mics and unpaid gigs
2:52
02. Becoming local heroes and booking tours
6:12
03. Getting creative about gigs
3:44
04. Stagecraft – Jeremy from Everything Everything
2:21
05. Capitalising on your audience
4:50
06. Engaging Direct to Fan
7:41
07. Knowing your online audience and using data effectively
7:25
Lesson transcript
The Remix Question
The remix question always kind of really annoyed me.
When I was signed to record companies, you know, there was always like the magic bullet:
- If you get this person to remix your music, you're going to be huge.
I was like, "Well, I don't really want to be huge on anyone else's terms, but if I like the remix and I like the person's music, then yes, they can remix it."
But invariably, it was like they would just be sending the most awful kind of remix things that I'm just like, "No, no, no."
So I haven't had a whole lot of stuff remixed, to be honest.
The stuff that I love tends to be, you know, quite under the radar,
weird stuff that wouldn't have got onto radio anyway back in the day.
But now, I think it's a bit different. You know, there are so many different avenues to hear people's music.
- It doesn't have to be a hit remix.
- It would help.
Actually, people have remixed my stuff without me knowing and then got permission because they've built a bit of a following from it.
Do You Support That?
Actually, I don't like the kind of "let's make a hit to make money" or "let's make a remix to make money."
I like the approach of people remixing my stuff because I'm happy for that music to get out and reach people who want to remix it.
Then, if they make something good, we can talk about it, rather than the other way around.
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Meet your guru
Meet your guru
Katie Melua is one of the UK's most successful recording artists, with more than 11 million albums sold worldwide and a string of multi-platinum releases. Born Ketevan Melua in Kutaisi, Georgia, in 1984, she moved with her family to Belfast as a child and later studied at the BRIT School in London, where she was discovered by songwriter and producer Mike Batt.
Her debut album 'Call Off the Search' (2003), released when she was 19, spent six weeks at No. 1 in the UK and went six-times platinum, driven by the hit single 'The Closest Thing to Crazy'. Its follow-up 'Piece by Piece' (2005) topped charts across Europe and featured her signature song 'Nine Million Bicycles'. In 2006 she earned a place in the Guinness World Records book by playing the deepest underwater concert ever staged, 303 metres below sea level on a North Sea gas platform.
A remarkable run of top-ten albums followed — 'Pictures' (2007), the William Orbit-produced 'The House' (2010), 'Secret Symphony' (2012) and 'Ketevan' (2013) — as Melua refined a sound that moves effortlessly between jazz, folk and classic pop songwriting. 'In Winter' (2016), recorded in Georgia with the Gori Women's Choir and produced by Melua herself, revealed a new depth to her artistry.
Her recent work is her most personal: 'Album No. 8' (2020) and 'Love & Money' (2023) drew some of the strongest reviews of her career, and 'Live at the Royal Albert Hall' (2024) celebrated two decades at the top of British music. She remains a captivating live performer, touring extensively across Europe and beyond.
