Grooveshark Ceases Operations

[Webster]

New York Times: Grooveshark Shuts Down

Add Grooveshark to the list of music websites that have been sued out of existence over copyright infringement.

On Thursday, Grooveshark, a free streaming site that once had 35 million users and advertising from the likes of Mercedes-Benz — but which drew the ire of major record companies for failing to receive permission for hosting music — agreed to shut down, ending a series of lawsuits stretching back four years.

In a statement posted on its site, Grooveshark said, “We started out nearly 10 years ago with the goal of helping fans share and discover music. But despite best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service. That was wrong. We apologize.”

Grooveshark said it had also agreed to “wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights.”

The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the labels Sony, Universal and Warner, added that Grooveshark’s founders, Sam Tarantino and Josh Greenberg, acknowledged operating an infringing site, and that Grooveshark’s parent company, the Escape Media Group, agreed to “significant financial penalties” if the terms of the settlement were not followed.

“This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry,” the industry association said in a statement.

Grooveshark’s demise comes after those of Napster, LimeWire, Grokster and others, each of which were sued by the big record companies for hosting free music without permission.

Global revenue from recorded music has fallen to about $15 billion last year, from $26.6 billion in 1999, the year Napster arrived, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The music industry has long blamed piracy for much of that decline, although analysts have also pointed to other factors like the shift from sales of full CDs to those of individual track downloads.

Grooveshark, founded in 2006, provided streaming access to a library of millions of songs. In the days before Spotify, which came to the United States in 2011 with a free and fully licensed streaming service, Grooveshark’s library and smooth operating system helped it grow to a formidable size.

The site was first sued for infringement in 2009; the case the company settled this week dates to 2011. Grooveshark had long argued that it operated under the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, a federal law that protects websites that host copyrighted content uploaded by others. For a time, it seemed to be holding its own in court, much to the annoyance of the record companies.

Then, in September, Judge Thomas P. Griesa of United States District Court in Manhattan ruled that Grooveshark was liable for infringement because its employees and officers, including Mr. Tarantino and Mr. Greenberg, had personally uploaded thousands of songs without permission — uploads that were not subject to the “safe harbor” provisions of the law.

Last week, ahead of a damages trial, Judge Griesa ruled that because Grooveshark’s infringement was willful, it could be held liable for up to $736 million in statutory damages.

 

[Webster]

Grooveshark's Letter In Regards To The Decision

Dear music fans,

Today we are shutting down Grooveshark.

We started out nearly ten years ago with the goal of helping fans share and discover music. But despite [the] best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service.

That was wrong. We apologize. Without reservation.

As part of a settlement agreement with the major record companies, we have agreed to cease operations immediately, wipe clean all the data on our servers and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights.

At that time of our launch, few music services provided the experience we wanted to offer and think you deserve. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. There are now hundreds of fan friendly, affordable services available for you to choose from, including Spotify, Deezer, Google Play, Beats Music, Rhapsody and Rdio, among many others.

If you love music and respect the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible, use a licensed service that compensates artists and other rights holders. You can find out more about the many great services available where you live here: http://whymusicmatters.com/find-music.

It has been a privilege getting to know so many of you and enjoying great music together. Thank you for being such passionate fans.

Yours in music,
Your friends at Grooveshark

 

[Dee]

Take your pick of the dozens of other music streaming websites out there.

 

[Evil Eye]

I wondered how that site was legal. Guess I have my answer

 

[Raven]

I used to love Grooveshark until I discovered Spotify, Better choice of music and more importantly better sound quality even on the free version. Sucks about the ads though.

Shame though, but knew it would happen at some point.