Mixwit mixtape site shuts down
No sooner do we name Mixwit as one of our 200 digital music startups from 2008, then it sends out an email to users saying it’s shutting down.
“We’ve put a year of work into Mixwit so this choice wasn’t taken lightly,” says an email sent out to users. “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 guessing that means a row with the RIAA or other industry bodies similar to the one that nixed Muxtape earlier this year. The full text of the email is over the jump, but the site’s founders say they’ll return next year with a new company.
Email from Mixwit
We regret to announce that Mixwit will cease to exist at the end of the year. The website and profiles will be turned off around Dec 27th and all embedded widgets will stop playing before the end of December.
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.
You guys are all amazing. It’s clear that all of you put a ton of time and effort into your mixes. For me personally, I was looking forward to all of the designs people created for their tapes. There was a lot of basic tapes and many lovely photos, but the designs and artwork – WOW!
We’re very sorry that this has to end. We’re going to try to figure out some way to archive the artwork and playlists, if for nothing at least historic value. As for now, everything needs to be shut down by the end of the year just to make sure we’ve got a clean start for 2009.
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 =)
- Radley & Mike
December 22nd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
[...] final da semana passada, surgiu a notícia de que o Mixwit, outro site de mixtapes digitais, também decidiu optar por fechar as portas. [...]
December 30th, 2008 at 7:51 am
Actualmente, o regime de direito de autor não satisfaz as necessidades da sociedade nem está de acordo com as possibilidades que o desenvolvimento tecnológico coloca nas suas mãos. Este sistema transformou-se em legitimador da submissão da cultura às leis do mercado, favorecendo a dominação económica e cultural dos povos. O direito de autor como direito humano deve ter implícito o equilíbrio entre o direito do autor à sua obra e o direito da sociedade a ter acesso a ela. Este equilíbrio foi quebrado, não a favor dos autores nem da sociedade, mas a favor dos que exercem os direitos em nome dos criadores, ou seja, os grandes monopólios da indústria editorial, informática, biotecnológica e do entretenimento.
A apropriação destes conhecimentos entra frequentemente em contradição com o direito à saúde, à vida, ao conhecimento e à educação. E são sempre estes que saem a perder.
January 8th, 2009 at 9:48 pm
[...] Mixwit is dead and so is the flash widget we were using. You didn’t want to hear the rough mixes anyway, the songs [...]