Mashup-Germany Youtube F.A.Q.

...MASHUP-GERMANY YOUTUBE F.A.Q....
I get a lot of messages every day and most times people ask the same questions. I tried to put those questions and my answers together in this F.A.Q.

IS MASHUP-GERMANY JUST ONE PERSON?
Yes, it's just me and my other me's :)

WHEN DID YOU START PRODUCING MASHUPS?
September, 2008.

HOW OLD ARE YOU?
25

WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
I was born in Germany and I live there, but I am half-American.


DO YOU PLAY A MUSIC INSTRUMENT?
I started playing the drums when I was 12 and I play a little piano.

HOW DO YOU DO THE KEY MATCHING?
Usually by ear, but I use software to verify certain parts.

DID YOU MAKE ALL THE MASHUPS ON YOUR YOUTUBE PAGE BY YOURSELF?
Yes, I did.
Except the "Hard to boot" Mix, I just edited the video, the Audio-Mashup is produced by Dunproofin' (check him out, he's is awesome)

WHAT SOFTWARE DO YOU USE?
I use Adobe Audition 3.0, Sony Acid Pro, Celemony Melodyne, FruityLoops and some other tools.
For DJing I use VirtualDJ Pro 6.3 and the DJ Console RMX.

CAN I DOWNLOAD YOUR MASHUPS?
Yes, you can.
You get all my mixes on my two "Mashup-Germany" Sampler and my latest Mixes as single downloads on www.mashup-germany.com.

IS BENSTILLLER YOUR REAL NAME?
No, it's not.
"Ben" is the name of my American grandfather who was murdered in the early 70s in Philadelphia.

The name "Stilller" is used in referring to the german novel "Stiller" by Max Frisch.
It's about a man that has major identification issues going on and it's the same with my mixes.
I play with the identity of music, I change and renew it.
Put those two names together and you got "BenStilller". I used the third "l" so that people don't mistake me with the famous Hollywood actor, although the referring isn't by accident.
The actor does pretty much mainstream cinema but also some alternative stuff.
I try the same with my mixes.
I mostly use mainstream music, to reach many people, but I try to combine it with less known music I personally like.

IS IT LEGAL WHAT YOU'RE DOING?
Well, in the end it isn't.
I use copyrighted music and publish it (mostly) without permission.
But because it is for non-commercial use, it is (mostly) tolerated.

We need a international Copyright law, that allows people to edit and share the music they bought.
I'm in contact with some of the artists I used in my mixes and none of them had a problem with me using their music.

DO YOU EARN MONEY WITH YOUR MIXES?
NO, I don't and I don't want to.
I just want to share my love for music with you guys, that's it.
I have NO commercial purpose at all.

CAN I MAKE DONATION TO MASHUP-GERMANY?
No, you can't :)
Very nice, but I don't want any money!!!

WHY DO YOU USE ENGLISH ON YOUR PAGES?
I get a lot of messages from Asia, Australia, the States, pretty much from all over the world, therefore it makes sense to use English.
It's the language almost everyone understands.

WHAT'S THE GOAL WITH YOUR MASHUPS?
My goal is to connect german and international music, to present german music to an international audience.

MANY OF YOUR MASHUPS DON'T USE GERMAN MUSIC, WHY IS THAT?
There are very few acapella and instrumental releases from Germany.
There is simply a lack of ressources.

DO YOU ALSO WORK AS DJ?
Yes, I also work as pro Club-DJ.
Started DJing when I was 14, dude, that's like ten years ago...I'm getting old :)

There will be some Live-gigs on several Mashup Partys in Germany soon.
I'm gonna post the dates here and on my other pages.

CAN I BOOK YOU FOR AN EVENT?
If you are a Club- or Event-manager you can send booking requests to benstilller@gmx.com
I do not DJ on private Events.
Please just serious inquiries.

I WANT TO PLAY ONE OF OF YOUR MIXES ON THE RADIO?
No problem, just do it.
No extra permission needed.
To quote the actor Ben Stiller from the movie "Dodgeball": "Do it, Do it, just do it!"

I'M A SINGER / I HAVE A BAND AND WOULD LIKE TO DO A PROJECT WITH YOU.
DO YOU DO STUFF LIKE THAT?
Sure, just tell me about your ideas and we'll see.
Email to benstilller@gmx.com

WHO INFLUENCED YOU?
AplusD, Dunproofin', DJ Schmolli, PartyBen, Calmucho, Phil Retro Spector, DJ Morgoth, Cilvester, AplusD, Reborn Identity and many others.

SOME OF YOUR VIDEOS DISAPPEARED. WHAT HAPPENED?
Sometimes, as most of you proberly know, videos get blocked by youtube.
If you use content that is licensed by WMG for example.
Usually if a video gets blocked, I upload it on vimeo and you find it on my blog.

Here is a list of Videos that got blocked over the past year.

I call it my little Mashup-Graveyard:

Peter Deichkind - Alles Remmidemmi
589.000 Views

Peter Fox vs. TingTings vs more - Der letzte Tag
427.000 Views

Peter Fox - House am See (Remix)
137.000 Views

Reggae Allstars -- THINK! (Original Edit)
89.000 Views

Black Eyed Peas vs. Peter Fox - Alles so boom boom pow neu
14.000 Views

Kid Cudi vs. The Automatic vs. more - Monster Mashing Day 'N' Night
16.000 Views

Reggae Allstars 2009 feat. Kanye West - IMAGINE
1800 Views

RIP

SOMETHING YOU WANT TO KNOW THAT ISN'T ANSWERED HERE?
Please, just let me know.