March 27, 2008
Battle of the Online Mix Tapes: Mixwit vs. Muxtape
This was supposed to be a post about the relative merits of two nifty new web services for making and sharing mix tapes online, Muxtape and Mixwit.
Apparently Muxtape has been on the receiving end of some serious web chatter in the last few days, and their poor server up and R-U-N-N-O-F-T. The ETA for when they will come back online keeps getting pushed back farther and farther so I’m splitting this into two posts starting with Mixwit.
In this cloud-computing, Facebook-centered era of the web, it’s no surprise that even the practice of mix tape creation has moved online. Of course, the first question that comes to mind is: do most potential users of these services even know what a mix tape is?
Maybe these the demographic for these apps skews a bit older, more toward those of us who still have some of our old tapes in a box somewhere in the back of our closet. That’s what we did before iPods and torrents, kids: we lovingly crafted mixes from CDs, vinyl records and other tapes to give to friends and potential mashing partners. We even decorated ‘em and everything.
(For the curious/obsessive/nostalgic, there’s a really good book on the subject edited by Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth. ‘Sgood.)
Regardless, these peas-in-a-pod media sharing applets should appeal to a wide range of folks. Let’s give them a once-over, shall we?
Mixwit
Mixwit takes the “more is more” approach to creating and sharing your online mix. After you create your account, you are taken to the main mix creation screen where you can either link to MP3s on the web, or perform a search for songs on Seeqpod and/or Skreemer.
When you’ve located your song, just drag and drop the song into the playlist area. Playlists hold a maximum of 12 songs, and you can rearrange the songs in any order. Most helpfully, if the song is no longer available, that song will be highlighted in your playlist. In that event, you can remove it and drag and drop another reference to that song or choose a different one.
When you’re happy with your playlist, enter a title and your name or alias right onto the little cassette, where it is rendered in cute, handwritten scrawl just like you did in eighth grade.
Step two is to skin your cassette label. You can choose from about a dozen different looks for the face of your “tape,” as well as adjust the font size, color, and alignment.
Don’t like their choices? Upload your own photo, or create your own skin. Basically you can totally make your tape your own.
Finally, save and share. What you end up with a cute animated Flash widget you can easily share on Facebook, Myspace, your own blog or website, or the repository of you-ness of your choice.
If you want to embed your mix elsewhere, you can also grab the HTML code and paste it wherever you like, such as in the example at the right where you see it embedded in my site, Retired Time Bomb.
The widget itself is very well-done, and is complete with moving wheels and advancing tape. Hovering over the bottom of the cassette brings up the player and volume controls.
Looking for some new or old tunes you’ve never heard? Just like checking out what other folks are digging on? Head over to the gallery and take your pick. I even found one with my old buddies, the legendary Ice Nine.
Here’s my first one, my top 10 songs of 2007.
There is at this time no limit to the number of mixes you can make. Mixwit’s terms of service state that you should only share legal MP3s *ahem*, and they do pay royalties to publishers including BMI, ASCAP and SESAC. So it seems like they’re on the up-and-up and claim no responsibility if you put up music that’s on the shady side of legal.
In summary, a bit time-consuming to make, but totally fun.
Up next: Muxtape, once their servers are back online.
Back to my site, Retired Time Bomb
Muxtape is back
Dude, you could have embedded it here, too yknow.