I’ve got a ton of questions about muxtape. The first, and most perplexing, is - how the heck has the RIAA not squashed the life out of this lovely, little application yet? I couldn’t tell you.

Muxtape basically came out of thin air early this year and it’s been growing every since. Created by Justin Ouellette, your run of the mill nerd-looking type, muxtape has quickly become the front runner in the online mixtape world. There are a good number of choices out there - imeem, seeqpod, mixwit, to name a few- but muxtape has seemed to catch on the most.

There has been a lot of speculation into into why muxtape has piqued the interest of so many users. Because I know you’re interested, here’s what I think:

1. Simple, simple, simple
   People everywhere (here and here, for example) have be touting the simplicity of muxtape. They’re all right; the simplicity of use is the beauty of muxtape. Users aren’t overloaded with options. It’s just signup, upload, share. Perfect!
2. Clean design
   The site has no ads, no commentary, nothing but easily accessible, random music.
3. Tons of great music
   Ouellette’s goal was to offer people a chance to access music they wouldn’t otherwise know or hear, and that’s exactly what he’s achieved. While some complain about the inability to search or find specific artists, that’s exactly what Ouellette wanted. (Don’t worry though, other people have taken it upon themselves to fill that void - enter Muxtape Stumbler.)

The system isn’t perfect or bug-free, but people love it. It looks like that mix CD had its run, but it’s time to hang up the boots.

What I really want to know is - Where are all the privately sponsored mixes? It’s been 3 months, how much longer before muxtape becomes a media outlet available for purchase? Only time will tell.

(You can peep my mux here.)

Article Tags: ajax | clean design | mixtape | Music | music sharing | muxtape | web application

Filed under: Music, Technology