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Tiny Mix Tapes

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Tiny Mix Tapes logo

File:Tinymixtapes screencap.png

A typical example of Tiny Mix Tapes' main page, as of 9 March 2007

Launched 2001
Based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, US
Created by Mr P
Owner Mr P
Registration No
Type of website Music webzine
Status Active
URL tinymixtapes.com

Tiny Mix Tapes (or tinymixtapes) is a music webzine which regularly provides professional reviews of newly released albums. The site focuses on new independent music and related news. Originally called Tiny Mixtapes Gone to Heaven [1] and hosted on GeoCities, the site moved to its current domain in 2001. The site has received press attention for its "automatic mix tape generator", a feature that creates online mix tapes on reader request. Tiny Mix Tapes is also a featured reviewer on Metacritic.

Description

The writing staff is composed of volunteers who often use colorful and expressive pen names (such as Wolfman, Mango Starr, and Filmore Mescalito Holmes). The co-founder and editor-in-chief is Minneapolis-resident Marvin Lin (code name Mr. P), who is supported by managing editor Grant Purdum. The News, Music Reviews, Automatic Mixtape Generator, Delorean, Concerts, Articles, Interviews and Tours are handled by Matt Weir, Jay, Trillian, Keith Kawaii, Leah, Nicolemc99, Leveer and Katiedid respectively[1].

The site was redesigned in December 2006. It now contains advertisements.

Features

Tiny Mix Tapes offers a variety of content, including music reviews, movie reviews, articles, interviews, and news. The "DeLorean" [2] section reviews music released before Tiny Mix Tapes began that may no longer be popular, albums that the writer believes "classic" or influential, or music that is significant to the writer.

Similarly, "Eureka" [3] consists of reviews of music that resonated with an individual writer. These tend to be underground avant-garde or experimental musicians, but there are no requirements that it be as such.

There is also a section devoted to interviews with musicians and a concert section where writers review live music shows.

As of 2008, Tiny Mix Tapes started reviewing films and now has a section devoted to film. This section also includes features on film-makers and other numerous subjects within the film medium.

The Automatic Mix Tape Generator

The Automatic Mix Tape Generator [4], or AMG, was created to offer a personal contribution to the site. Started in 2002, readers may submit a title or the theme for a mixtape, and a group of volunteers called the "Mix Robots" will compile a track list. Due to the large volume of requests as well as request redundancy, not all requests are filled.

Mix tapes are generated by a dedicated group of volunteers who have a sizable range in both age and musical interests. These 'robots', as they are referred to, produce and submit track lists fulfilling the request as they interpret it. Mixtape track lists are then available on the website. Most of the songs on the mix tapes come from indie or underground bands/musicians. Mainstream music is sometimes incorporated into the tapes, though often with a sense of irony.

When the site was redesigned in December 2006, the AMG was temporarily replaced by a fondue recipe. In January 2007, the format was updated and the AMG came back online with new entries and selected archives. It is currently active. In 2008, Trillian, the AMG editor, was on Talk of the Nation to discuss Valentine's Day mixes.[2]

Chocolate Grinder

At the beginning of 2009, Tiny Mix Tapes began a feature podcast called Chocolate Grinder. Published approximately twice a month, each installment sees a writer collecting ten brand new tracks they want to shed light on.[3] The tracks are posted for stream or download in a single continuous file with a unique name ("The Rise Of The Common Woodpile", "The Space Bud Fuzz Lounge Revolt", "Brained By Falling Masonry").

Jokes by Tiny Mix Tapes

In 2005, Tiny Mix Tapes published fake reviews of Radiohead's "Hail to the Thief" and The White Stripes' "Elephant." It published reader mail the next day.

On March 30th 2007, Tiny Mix Tapes announced it was hosting a festival in Minnesota. At this festival, long since dissolved indie band Neutral Milk Hotel were billed to be "reuniting all over your Cheerios" as the headlining act. Amidst a blog flurry [5], and articles disputing the legitimacy of the event in Billboard [6] and Prefix [7], the festival was revealed as an early April Fools joke later the same day[8].

References

  1. ^ Error in Webarchive template: Empty url.
  2. ^ NPR
  3. ^ http://www.tinymixtapes.com/-Chocolate-Grinder-
  • The Guardian: "The Guide: www.tinymixtapes.com/amg", by Johnny Dee, June 4, 2005
  • Herald-Journal (Spartanburg, SC): "The mix has been nixed!", by Alexander Morrison, February 13, 2005
  • Concord Monitor (NH): "Mixtape madness", by Vanessa Valdes, June 16, 2006
  • Malay Mail (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia): "Playlist", September 21, 2005
  • Billboard: "Neutral Milk Hotel Not Reuniting For Festival" by Jonathan Cohen, March 30, 2007
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