We’ve spent enough time writing about the popularity of streaming services like Pandora, Spotify, Beatport, and Soundcloud but do you remember the one that started it all? Grooveshark was the first introduction to the streaming concept for many people. Back then it was like magic that Grooveshark just had any song you wanted for free. Well now we know there was a reason it seemed too good to be true, because it was. Grooveshark had failed to obtain the correct licenses for much of its collection and ran afoul of basically all of the major labels.
Many were surprised that despite the threats of lawsuits in the hundreds of millions of dollars, Grooveshark continued to exist even while its popularity had waned. As of yesterday, Grooveshark finally gave in to the labels and was forced to cease operations immediately as part of a settlement. Today going to the site will lead to a farewell message from the Grooveshark team. It’s sad to see the pioneer go, but the creators of Grooveshark can walk away knowing that they kick started a phenomenon that has completely changed the way we consume music today.
“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 best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amounts of music on the service.
That was wrong. We apologize.
Without Reservation.”
