The digital mixtape is dying on the Web. The RIAA is killing it just like it tries to kill anything that smacks of consumer-driven innovation. Digital mixtapes are nothing more than shared playlists. Sites that make it easy to create and share music in this fashion are shutting down left and right. Muxtape bowed to legal pressure from the RIAA earlier this year, and now Mixwit is shutting down as well. The service will cease to exist before the end of the year.
In a blog post announcing the imminent closure, Mixwit does not specifically mention any legal action by the RIAA, but it is not hard to put two and two together:
We’ve put a year of work into Mixwit so this choice wasn’t taken lightly. I won’t go into the details of our situation but state simply that we boldly marched into in a position best described as “between a rock and a hard place.” We’re very grateful to be have been part of the mixtape revival of ‘08 and are satisfied to be able to to bow out while things are still good.
. . . We’ll return early next year with a new company and new toys. Until then, enjoy the holidays and please take good care of yourselves, your families, and your friends =)
It is with sadness that we place Mixwit into the deadpool. Mixwit is contemplating donating its source code to the OpenTape project, as Muxtape did before it.
As we noted in our original review, Mixwit drew its songs from the MP3 search engine Seeqpod, which is what made it a good experience but probably also what got it into hot water.
Other mixtape services (Mixaloo, Mixtube, Favtape, and 8track) live on. But for how long? It depends on where they are getting their music from and whether it is licensed or not.
The lesson here for music startups is that it doesn’t matter what consumers want to do with music. In the eyes of the music industry, sharing music is (still) a crime.
Update: I asked Mixwit founder Michael Christoff if the RIAA ever actually sued his company or threatened to sue. It did not, but the fear of a lawsuit is what drove him to pull the plug. Here is his response
we’re glad to have contributed what we did to the 2008 mixtape revival, and we’re completely stoked about our forthcoming company. that said, we’ve received a lot of questions today so we liked to say a few brief things about why we decided to shut mixwit down.
first and foremost, we’d like to say that we’ve had good and not-so-good communications with the record labels over the past year, but we were never sued. i’m sure i don’t have to explain that our mixtapes are perceived to be in a legally ambiguous state (at least as far as the labels are concerned). we’ve explored all options, including becoming fully-licensed, and we decided that the time commitment and economics just don’t make sense, particularly with the economy the way it is. the decision was clear: we needed to shutdown the mixtapes. we thought about continuing with mixwit as a company, but we could never get assurance that the future of mixwit would not be hurt by the perceived liabilities of its past so we decided it was time to to shut things down.
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muxtape.com and mixwit.com very cool
http://tinyurl.com/4rdhmc
Muxtape did not donate its source code to OpenTape; they have no connection at all.
Am sad to see this happen but Mike and Radley are incredibly talented guys. Looking forward to seeing what they come out with next.
Interesting that OpenTape may end up fusing ideas from two companies that started out as competitors.
what about opening mixwit again but from Sweden or Malta or another country where the US law is not valid?
many torrent sites are there, and they cannot be shut down by US agencies…
a great read, with the answers of a torrent tracker site to the RIAA and other music-related agencies/companies:
http://thepiratebay.org/legal
It really is amazing these sites have so much innovation but just KEEP opening up where US law can render their work useless. Millions made on customers where someone hacked an online gambling tool yet muxtape and mixwit host within borders that can easily shut them down. I must be missing something.
Soon my ear phones will recognize my DNA so I won’t even be able to let someone listen to the music on my MP3 player.
I really hope people stop using the word “mashup” someday.
que coisa estranha essas barbas parece de massa.
me perdoe comentei no lugar errado, queria dizer que o blog é um dos melhores que conheço.
I agree, with the statement “Digital mixtapes are nothing more than shared playlists. ”
but this seems satement ignores reality - “sites that make it easy to create and share music in this fashion are shutting down left and right.”
I just read one of Michael’s posts yesterday on LaLa, can’t you do playlists/mixtapes there?
Aren’t imeem and LaLa and Myspace all digital mixtape services?
the digital mixtape is alive and well.
“In the eyes of the music industry, sharing music is (still) a crime.”
I’m sorry, but the problem is that in the eyes of the law it is a crime. It’s is naive and foolish to say that something should be allowed just because it is innovative.
Suppose I set up a create new web site that allows you to move money from record company’s bank accounts to your own account. And I give it a nice Ajax user interface. That would “innovate”. But it would be illegal.
File “sharing” is an abuse of the word “sharing”. Sharing implies that people are taking it in turns to use something. What you’re talking about here is file copying.
Do I think the record companies are great, honorable organizations? No, absolutely not. But copying music is no different to copying software. Strange that the technical community doesn’t have so many campaigns for Microsoft, Oracle, SAP, BEA, IBM, etc to make all their software free.
Some people have argued that music should be free. That would solve the problem. But I think we would all regret it, as the quality of music we get would decline. Or worse, become ad-funded. No thanks.
I think in its current state,
:)
_the_ _law_ _is_ _a_ _crime_
Why have the originators of art not objected unanimously to this “stealing” of their “copyrighted and intellectual property”? Why do some artists actually support and encourage file sharing?
Why should xxAA be allowed to use THE LAW (it hurts when anyone shouts…) against the sihes of the artists themselves?
THE LAW is for the people or are people for THE LAW?
THE LAW is, always was, and will most likely always remain, a total ass, unless legal types show some signs of character.
Those who find loopholes in this ass called THE LAW should therefore be called …..
xxAA are just that.
Actually, the law is such an ass that it contardicts itself - and therein lies opportunity for 1000s of lawyers and THE opportunity for all of us.
What if “we, the people” start contributing to Wikileaks-style expose sites which publish copyright violations and sue the xxAASSH…. back?
A nice table with the first column showing the xxAA name, the second, showing the $$ that they are currently claiming from Jon Doe in lawsuit number 123, and the third column where “we, the people” are about to file lawsuits based on their copyright violations of Jon Doe’s Holy Copyrighted Rights emanating from THE LAW are shown.
Fair use will be put to test and their massive profits will get neat LAW ASS pinches for unfair use. One HTML page listing one planned/current Jon Doe lawsuit for one xxAA lawsuit will be a good place of education for xxAA freshers and a real pain in the ass for xxAA xxx’s.
Methinks they only understand their own language.
So give it back to them, lock, stock and barrel of the smoking law.
“Class action lawsuit” sounds even better.
Call up the EFF and the UCLA, they’ll take it from there.
But, if you’re married and have kids and need to keep your job, you might be a soft target.
Tough nuts without these vulerabilities and with no legal chinks in their armor should give it a thought or two - maybe not your own art, maybe supporting someone with more courage or more resources - there’s plenty of them out there.
You could even log the Google searches of these assh…. and publish their attempts to target weak “culprits” - too many of these can bring about “class action” status to ordinary bullying and threats. This is why I said the law contradicts itself - they will have to screw the First Amendement to win.
I wish them luck when tens of their copyright infringements start getting exposed en masse. They have the money to pay, after all
Methinks xxAA should prepare to face the music once the piercing recession slows down enough to generate enough lawsuits against Jon Does to make them all class action candidates. If xxAA doesn’t back off, they could be in for really nice music later next year. Good luck guys, WE are coming for you….
Every single day the airline industry violates trespass law by flying planes over the property of private citizens without permission.
Trespass law says that the law applies from the perimeter of the property down to the center of the earth and all the way up into the atmosphere.
Two farmers brought a case against the airline industry on the grounds of unauthorized use of their property. The judge in the case said that yes their property was being trespassed on, but that gaining permission from every property owner for every plane that flies over their property is impossible.
If the law were to honor trespass law as it applies to airline companies, then we couldn’t have air travel over land. That would be far worse for our society than property owners being compensated for their property rights.
That is what is going to happen with music and copyright law.
For more on this topic read Remix by: Lawrence Lessig
It is naive and foolish to criminalize natural consumer behavior.
I discovered this site a few months back and have been a fan ever since. I used it a lot and I’m sad to see it go.
It’s a tough spot as artists and labels seek other revenue streams and ways to increase exposure. It has certainly made a more competitive music climate as bands must generate more music, more often.
Am I a fan of the RIAA’s tactics, not all the time.
Does the RIAA serve a regulatory purpose that seeks bolster and protect the income of bands. Yes.
Do digital mixtapes help spread music and make new fans. Yes.
Does this change the fact that bands need to tour, to make any money? No.
http://www.betterthanthevan.com
I wish there was a more clear equilibrium.
I believe this:
xxAA = North America and European market, slow to reach your future fans.
web = the whole friggin world market *instant* across to your future fans
Artistes, are you deaf or stupid?
(Or am i too dumb…?)
Someone pls do some research and publish…
ICANHAZWHITEPAPER?
Why isn’t the RIAA dead yet?
Damn - I am a huge Muxtape user.
Lots of indie rock / alternative there.
And of course - 80’s. Lots of 80’s. Fucking RIAA took it down, apparently.
Trying to build a business model on the backs of other peoples intellectual property is so 2007. Next.