Especially in domains with a limited branching factor. For example, in music, if you only have 12 tones in an octave to play with, along with variable length and spacing, you start to run out of "good" melodies under 20 notes after 400 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99Op1TaXmCw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xqW-Hfk0FN0 (an electro swing remix)
Timbre and genre are very important things. The remix doesn't need to be as good as the original since it's way better suited to be mixed in an electro swing DJ set. The different context creates an entirely new niche in which the original has no place.
Disclaimer: I googled for something random and sifted a bit through the results - not a fan of dubstep remixes, so I chose electro swing instead :)
Here's a good example of music that stands on it own right despite using the melody of despacito: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ydqReeTV_vk - I'm pretty sure that most people at HN will appreciate this one whether they like despacito or not :)