Mashup

Mashups are created by mixing parts of two or more preexisting recordings together. Mashups can range widely in complexity, with many mashups simply laying one song's vocal track over another's instrumental track. Unless the tracks in question have the same key signature and BPM, the process of creating a mashup involves shifting these elements in order to create a cohesive mix. More complex mashups use techniques like placing multiple a cappellas on top of each other, vocal chopping, or pitch shifting individual musical elements. Mashups may be created for a wide variety of purposes—for DJ sets, to compare or contrast songs, or as a form of Musical Comedy. Mashups are difficult to release commercially due to modern content ID systems. As a result, many mashups are posted exclusively on sites like YouTube or SoundCloud, leading to a unique mashup culture on these platforms. One form of mashup, referred to as a megamix, aims to mix an excessively large number of songs together in a cohesive manner. Year-end megamixes are one of the most popular forms of mashup, with Daniel Kim's Pop Danthology and DJ Earworm's United State of Pop series gaining over 200 million views on YouTube combined.