Fanmixes are the New Mixtapes
I’ve seen these thematic lists popping up online for the last while but I had no idea that it was a thing. Fanmixes–playlists inspired by a love for a certain subject like a TV show, movie or any other object of veneration–can be fun, inspiring and illuminating.
The Daily Dot offers this look at the fanmix phenomenon.
While mixtape culture was making its way from 1990s High Fidelity-style cassettes to cheesy iPod playlists, online fandom was developing the fanmix.
Fandom has always been about collaboration. Even the earliest Star Trekzines had illustrations to go along with the fanfiction, and the Internet quickly added a multimedia component. Along with the simple text of a fanfic or movie review, we now have GIFs, fanvids, art, cosplay, and music.
Fanmixes can be created as the soundtrack to a fanfic, but they’re just as likely to be like a normal mixtape: capturing a particular moment or mood. It’s just than being “breakup songs of 2007,” the mood in question is more likely to be “music on the theme of defeating Voldemort.”
In an email to the Daily Dot, fanmix artist morethanonepage explained that more often than not, fanmixes are about storytelling:
“For me, putting the songs in the ‘right’ order is just as important as picking them. But it really is like building a story: with pairing mixes especially, I like to convey a whole relationship arc (the meet cute song, the getting-to-know/trust-you song, the swoon-i’m-so-in-love song, and so on).”
So while services like iTunes encourage listeners to shuffle through music rather than listening to an album as a complete work, fanmix artists are very concerned with the overall narrative of a mix.
