for those who don’t follow this stuff religiously the way that i do, the incredible awesomeness that was muxtape – the most beautifully, simply designed music application ever to hit the intarwebs – has been shut down for several months now.  in a lengthy and fascinating post to the muxtape website, the creator justin outlines exactly what happened, and where muxtape is going:

In May I had my first meeting with a major label, Universal Music Group. I went alone and prepared myself for the worst, having spent the last decade toeing the indie party line that the big labels were hopelessly obstinate luddites with no idea what was good for them. I’m here to tell you now that the labels understand their business a lot better than most people suspect, although they each have their own surprisingly distinct personality when it comes to how they approach the future.

it’s no secret that the big guys understand the inner workings of the new music economy.  it’s just that none of them seems to want to embrace it and make it work for them.  as with all good things, muxtape’s end comes as just another great piece of technology shut down by a system that fails to recognize its value.

fortunately for us music lovers, muxtape is to be reborn as a system for emerging artists to share their music with the world.  no real details have emerged, but it sounds like a similar concept to topspin, where embeddable widgets allow for mass dissemination of content and easy purchase.  it also seems they’ve got a system set up for bands to create their own site, a la myspace or bandzoogle or any of the myriad other sites that allow for quick and dirty modular band site building.