The Key to Muxtape’s Appeal

The newest site/app to catch fire across the internet is Muxtape, which was launched just days ago. The service allows users to create mixtapes and share them with their friends. What is it about this site that makes it so much fun to use?

The two primary reasons Muxtape is so much fun is firstly its simplicity, and secondly its nostalgia. I think that my age group (late teens/early twenties) is the last generation to even remember what an actual mixtape is. Not a mixtape like rappers release all the time with freestyles, but a cassette that was painstakingly created with the intention of sharing it with someone else. Back before the days of CD burners, those of us who wanted to give a friend a music sampler were forced to spend hours going through various pieces of hardware to create a cassette with selected tracks.

Not only does the site do a good job bringing back fond memories (and showing us how far we have come), but it also does so with a very appealing sense of simplicity. There are absolutely no frills to the design. To sign up you enter in three fields, and you are done. Once you are registered you are greeted with black Helvetica and one color at the top of your page. Upload a few songs, and you are done. To play someone’s Muxtape simply click the track you want to hear. It will automatically move to the next once it completes, giving you a simple time elapsed number on the right.

I cannot think of a better example of a web application that is so focused in its task, and does not get in the way of you accomplishing said task whatsoever. It is so simple that anyone can use it, and even for advanced users it is so refreshing as a barebones piece of enjoyment. I hope the site remains unchanged, and more importantly untouched by the RIAA.

I am not the only one who thinks it is a fun little site. Nathaniel Buck and I were twittering all about it on the day of its release. The site has basically caught fire right now, so embrace your inner trendiness. You can check out my mix (mux?) at http://jbomb.muxtape.com/. What do you think about the site? Do you appreciate its simplistic approach as much as I do? Let me know in the comments. Also if you decide to try it out for yourself, be sure to post a link to yours here!