If you haven’t already been there, check out CC Mixter. Mixter is a site for musicians that operates sort of like Friendster, in that it lets you find other musicians based on their musical interests and talents. What’s new, though, is you can see how music is related to each other based on who’s sampling and mashing-up who. For example, if I’ve sampled your song, the system will create a link between our two songs.

Currently, all of the tracks on Mixter are licensed under the Sampling Licenses, giving you the right to noncommercially distribute, and sample or mash up, either commercially or noncommercially, based on the license.

We’re hoping that Mixter becomes a central place for musicians to find tracks they can LEGALLY sample, without any hassle. We’re also hoping Mixter becomes a place where artists can be discovered, using the power of Creative Commons. To get the ball rolling, we’ll soon be running a contest where the winners will get a Magnatune contract. You can help by pointing your friends to Mixter, file-sharing or podcasting tracks you like, or whatever else you can think of to get the music out there.

Fortunately, the Fine Art of Sampling contest drew out some GREAT musicians, who have contributed some GREAT tracks. For example this remix by sHORT fACED bEAR of Girl and Supergirl, by Lisa DeBenedictis. Or, Living Stereo (2005) by Teru which samples

The Critic – Coffee House Rendezvous(II),
sacred sand, and
Living Stereo (1958). Or, check out One Two Three by Sharp, which both samples a bunch of songs, and is sampled by a few (I won’t bother to make any more hyperlinks here – that’s what’s Mixter is for – it does it for you!).

For a quick tour, you can stream the editoral picks, or if you’re looking for something specific, check out some of the tags. There’s also an RSS feed.