Phenquestions
The popular music service Grooveshark is no more. An announcement was posted on the service's frontpage that explains the reasoning behind the decision.
We have followed Grooveshark ever since it was launched in 2007 here on Ghacks when the site still ran in Adobe Flash. What set it apart from other music service sites, especially back in 2007, was how it operated.
It offered music streaming and recommendations, and allowed users to upload audio files to the service. In fact, all the contents available on the site came from user sources which was advantageous on the one hand as the service's popularity ensured that its music catalog was well stocked but also disadvantageous as rights-holders were not pleased about this.
Major record labels won a lawsuit against Grooveshark in late 2014 in which founders and employees were deeply implicated in uploading music to the service to make its music library more attractive.
According to the announcement on the Grooveshark website, shutting down the site is part of the settlement agreement with major record companies.
As part of a settlement agreement with major record companies, we have agreed to cease operations immediately, 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 copyright.
The announcement on the website suggests to use other, affordable, music services like Spotify or Deezer instead.
It is unclear what happened to user data. Was it wiped clean along with copyrighted works or was it handed over as part of the settlement agreement. If the latter is true, it could very well have further implications for some users of the service.
As it stands, the official applications are still available on web stores. It is probably only a matter of time before they are taken down as well. It is likely that they won't work properly anymore due to the shut down of the service anyway.
Closing Words
Grooveshark is not the only established service that was taken down this month. Earlier this month, Rapidshare was shut down as well by its parent company.
While it is sad to see these services go, there are plenty of alternatives available for both that offer similar features and services.
Now You: Have you used Grooveshark before?
