What about the legality of all this?

Mr. von Lohmann of the Electronic Frontier Foundation asserted that making a noncommercial mix CD was probably legal under the "fair use" provision of copyright law, but that notion has not been tested in court. He said that because of the 1992 Audio Home Recording Act, people who use blank audio CD-R's were probably in the clear legally because a portion of the price of those discs goes to the music industry.

Frank Creighton, who directs antipiracy efforts for the Recording Industry Association of America, said that money did not have to be involved for copying to be illegal. While mixes on cassette tapes may not have inspired the wrath of the record industry in the past, Mr. Creighton said, digital mixes have better sound quality. And given the proliferation of CD burning for friends and relatives, "it would be naive of us to say that we should allow that type of activity," he said.

Self-programmed radio, whether on traditional radio or more germane to the digital theme, via webcasting, is the ultimate form of mix creation. I view all of my Cool Tunes shows as mix-tapes/CDs (depending upon how I recorded them) and have saved most of them over the years. A few of the playlists can be found here, here and here.

More thoughts on the mix-tape experience and aesthetic here.