So long and thanks for all the IDs

Online mix tracklisting mega-library Mixes DB has announced it’s shutting down its website for good.

Along with other user-fuelled resources like Discogs, Mixes DB has been an invaluable part of the online digging landscape. The abruptly delivered news on Tuesday it was going to be taken offline will have been a shock to anyone who valued its leading position in the field of mix tracklistings. Perhaps those who think DJ sets should maintain an air of mystery will be rejoicing, but in the era of online digging no other site has become so authoritative for seeking out particular nuggets and pooling the hive mind to decode legendary DJ sets reaching back across the vast history of dance music (the first proper listing is Richard Searling at Wigan Casino from 1980).

The site went live in December 2006, seemingly the work of one Martin Götz in Dusseldorf, and in the 18 years since it’s grown to host nearly 300,000 entries in varying states of completion. How many of those have been contributed by DJ Bigos is unclear, but it’s a hell of an archive. Alas, as a passion project conceived a long time ago, internet technology has simply moved on and the architecture of the site is moving to obsolescence. Let’s be honest, the build is a bit clunky and more suited to savvy web navigators rather than the spoon-fed web 3.0 experience we’re more used to these days – that’s part of the charm, for sure, but as Götz puts it in his ruthlessly pragmatic post, it’s just not feasible to shift the entire contents of the site over to a new format.

Fortunately, he does share some tips for downloading the database yourself if you’re terrified of not being able to comb through rips of Villalobos marathons deciphering what mystery manna was being slipped in and out of sync. Maybe some plucky hound with time to burn will take up the challenge to create a next-generation version, but if not then consider Mixes DB a wonderful relic from an internet that is slowly crumbling away – a gateway to discovery, a way to scratch an itch or resolve a long burning question.

Fortunately, some plucky hound with time to burn seems to be taking up the challenge to create a next-generation version cryptically titled Mixes DB 2. It’s early days while the data gets transferred, but for now the look and feel is as comfortably 00s as we could wish for. Shout out to our man in Peak Oil for the tip.

The original Mixes DB will be offline from June 29, but fortunately it looks like a truly great digging resource may yet be at our disposal.

In related news, all you Discogs hounds be sure to check out Shovel – A Google Chrome plug-in which allows you to queue up embedded videos from releases as you browse them on the most authoritative music database out there. At first it seemed like maybe a slightly unnecessary rehash of a simple site function, but vitally this tool gets rid of the bug-laden video experience within Discogs where you normalise refreshes and embed crashes on the hunt for more heat. As it turns out, racking up all those YouTube videos in a cleaner playlist is a more enjoyable way of lining up your Discogs digs. A hearty IO stamp of approval on that one.

Happy digging.

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