Los Angeles - Muxtape, a popular free music playlist-sharing service, has taken itself offline in light of an unspecified request from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

"Muxtape will be unavailable for a brief period while we sort out a problem with the RIAA," reads a note on Muxtape.com.

The service allows users to create an online mixtape of up to 12 songs, which can be shared with friends and feature links to purchase the tracks from online retailers.

The service as it existed likely infringed on copyrights, and was apparently not paying royalties on the songs it streamed to users.

However, Wired.com reports that Muxtape founder Justin Oullette said back in April that "labels big and small have told me that they're excited about Muxtape as a model for discovery and ultimately selling music, and I think that's extremely keen."

Related Links:
http://muxtape.com

http://blog.wired.com/music/2008/08/riaa-issues-kno.html