REAX is back.

Actually, it never went away. The much-admired publication that over four years became a must-read for Florida music enthusiasts and musicians ceased being a monthly print magazine after its August issue, but founder/owner Joel Cook never considered folding the enterprise. Less than six months later, REAX relaunches in an innovative web-only format replete with an digital-age business model, fresh design and enhanced content, while remaining the predominant voice and community builder within the music scene that it had previously been.

"It takes time to come up with the right strategy, something that's going to succeed in 2010," Cook says. "It would have made no sense to just stop printing and go with the existing website."

Cook found a kindred spirit in Ben Eason, former CEO of Creative Loafing, Inc. The tandem quickly discovered that they shared a similar vision of how to make a contemporary music publication work. The central idea is intermingling the voices of experts, fans and musicians to offer myriad points of view and in the process create a vital hub of information, opinion and, of course, music itself to make REAXmusic.com an essential stop on the digital highway. Additionally, REAX will continue its deep involvement with the local music scene, not only covering it but sponsoring and presenting events.

REAX has retained most of the writers that established a following during its four years as a music monthly, and added a group of new voices.

To facilitate REAX's community-building mission, the site employs a Wiki foundation — but not like any Wiki site you've ever seen. Cook himself wrenched unprecedented design quality out of the Wiki platform, building a site that's eye-catching, user-friendly and extremely flexible in terms of providing content. "It allows people to jump right in," Cook says.

"If you can take the encyclopedia orientation of Wiki and change it to community consciousness, you're really onto something," Eason says.

The Tampa REAX rolls out today, with Orlando and Jacksonville versions scheduled to go live on successive Fridays. Users can choose to access each, all or any combination of the market-specific content. Along with a mix of national, international and local music coverage, the new REAX site has added some state-of-the-art features: For example, low-cost directory pages that venues and other businesses can sign onto and join REAX's integrated marketing apparatus.

Soon, REAX will offer a ticketing option in another effort to spur growth and connectivity within the music scene. "Other sites offer ticketing, but they don't offer our marketing, our insights, our networks to help get the word out and build attendance," Cook says.

The synergy between Eason, Cook and the rest of their team has only begun to gain steam. Other exciting projects apart from the music world will soon be unveiled. Stay tuned … or should we say, stay logged on.