Every couple weeks it seems like some issues pop up on TCU where someone uses a song from an established video in a web video. Either I say something or someone in the comment says something, and inevitably a bunch of internet white knights run to the offender’s defense with arguments like “who cares if he used the song from ____’s video part?”, “you guys take this shit too seriously” or “BMX is about fun, stop hating”. Of course, all these arguments are completely retarded. Allow me to explain why.
First off let’s take a look at the BMX video part as we know it. If you ask me, there are 4 primary components of a video part. There’s the riding; the riding has to actually happen before anything else. Then there’s the filming. How the tricks are filmed, how the settings have been set and the type of video camera is certainly an important part as well. Then there’s the editing. How the clips are put together and how the clips are manipulated once they are captured can certainly make or break a video part as well. Then finally, there’s the music. Almost every video part is edited to a song already written and recorded by a musician or group of musicians, although in some rare cases a rider might compose a piece of music himself for his video part (obvious example, Adam Banton). All of these elements are important and certainly deserve to have blogs written about them in their own right, but for now, let’s take a look at the music.
Just as important as filming or editing, music can completely change the feel of a video part. A great video part is almost always accompanied by a great song; think about your favorite video parts of all time, and I bet that most of the songs in those parts are some of your favorite as well. I’ve noticed that in many cases, I find myself watching certain parts in videos over and over just because I like the song, and that helps to create a positive association between the song and the riding, making me appreciate the riding more. Conversely, think about a band you absolutely hate. Imagine your favorite rider chose that band for his next video part. Can you picture yourself really enjoying it? I didn’t think so.
More than the filming or the editing, the music gives the video part an identity. Would Edwin’s Can I Eat part make you feel the same way if it had been edited to New Found Glory? No. That song was an excellent choice, because it expressed Edwin’s identity in a very bold and obvious way. A few years later when Edwin rode to Bill Withers for the first half of his All Day part, again, it gave his part a really strong vibe and feel even though it was in a much less obvious way (the Papoose song that compromised the second portion of his part was fairly obvious in the way the 50 song was). As such, we as BMXers begin to associate not just the rider with the songs, but the songs with the rider’s. Have you ever been out to the bar with a few of your friends and heard Blondie’s “Hangin’ On The Telephone” and not either thought or said something about Bob Scerbo? If you’re over the age of 18, I doubt it.
Consequently, when a song is re-used in a video part, people like myself get bothered. You’re essentially forfeiting your video’s chance of ever having any sort of identity by re-using a song that was already used to define a video part. This has become a more complicated matter in recent years with the proliferation of web videos. In 1999, maybe 20 BMX videos would come out in a year, and if they all used an average of 10 songs, that’d be 200 songs that got used. Nowadays you can watch 20 new videos a day on The Come Up, so that’s 20 songs a day that get used, over 7000 a year if those numbers were completely accurate. Absolutely no one could remember 7000 songs a year, so you can’t always blame someone for slipping up and re-using a song. Are all video parts made equal though?
No, of course not. The only song jacks that really matter are instances like the recent Jason Owens edit which re-used a song from a very well known video part in a classic DVD. If you picked a random video off The Come Up and then re-used the song 6 months later, how many people do you think would notice? I’m guessing almost nobody. Now, I’ve heard it discussed that perhaps only songs used in DVD’s are really off limits. Is that true? I don’t agree. Certainly any section in a well known DVD is a song you should avoid using, but plenty of sections go up online that become instant classics even if they are never featured in a DVD and the songs used are just as associated with those tricks as songs used in DVD’s.
The counter-argument always used in the comments when I call someone out for song jacking is that “it’s all about having fun”. Riding is about having fun, yes, but when it comes time to edit together a video part that you’re going to put online for other people to see, take some pride in what you’re putting out. Using a song that is already associated with a legendary video part is going to make a large section of the people viewing your video not be able to take it seriously.
It’s important to mention at this point, that I understand not every rider has seen every video. BMX has been going on for over 30 years. I understand nobody has seen every DVD and web video. But be smart; ask some friends if they have heard the song you want to use in any videos before. The first thing I think when I hear a song after “this would be great in a video part” is “has anyone used this yet?” If the song seems too good to be true, throw up a thread on The Come Up Board and ask if anyone has heard the song used, kids on there will be more than happy to fill you in if the song has already been used.
Basically, there’s no excuse for song jacking. It’s easy to avoid, it WILL ruin your video part and it’s a show of unintentional disrespect to the rider who originally rode to it. Stop arguing about it in the comments, smarten up and if you do accidentally use a song you shouldn’t have, say you’re sorry and move on.