Muxtape Reborn: This Time, It's a New-Artist Showcase

by Jordan Yerman | September 26, 2008 at 11:54 am

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A Muxtape...all the hipster 2.0's had one: an online collection of showcase tunes to help build out their public identity. Sort of like the iPod playlist you want the public to see, whilst hiding all the Shampoo and Menswear tracks. However, Muxtape, big in the hearts of its users but lo-fi in the UI, fell afoul of music-label bullying and shut down, much to Jarrett Martineau's chagrin.

Arising phoenix-like from its own ashes, Muxtape is reborn as a showcase for unsigned artists, so the RIAA has nothing to whinge about.

In a lengthy post on Muxtape's website, founder Justin Ouellette explains why he started the site in the first place and details some of the legal troubles it has been through. Ouellette says that, contrary to popular belief, the site did not succeed by flying under the record labels' radars—in fact, he heard from both the labels and the RIAA within a week of launching the site. From there, he claims the RIAA has ultimately done nothing but try to intimidate him, and that regardless of Muxtape's legality, he never had the funds to defend himself in a lawsuit.

Ouellette does point out, however, that he has always been willing to remove music from the site at the request of the artists or labels, but "not a single one" ever contacted him with such a request.