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Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

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Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#2
I'm not really surprised. I've always been astounded that Grooveshark (which is an awesome service, I use it everyday) was able to do what they do.

I figured that the labels were simply building enough evidence to simply destroy the service outright which will clearly send a message to anyone else who wants to do something similar.

It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#3

I'm not really surprised. I've always been astounded that Grooveshark (which is an awesome service, I use it everyday) was able to do what they do. I figured that the labels were simply building enough evidence to simply destroy the service outright which will clearly send a message to anyone else who wants to do something similar. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Came here to say this. The only viable strategy is to do as much as you can to apease them, while gently moving the industry towards innovative music products. Its their content, they have the right to do what they want with it (as frustrating as it may be). Can't give them the finger and expect them to work with you/not sue you later.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#5
The sad thing about this whole deal is that Grooveshark is awesome! Nevermind the fact that a simple Firefox plugin lets you download the MP3 for each song that you listen to for free...

In retrospect, it's only a matter of time before the labels go all Napster on their ass.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#6
As a former employee of GS I can say that getting sued is nothing new and may in fact be a good thing for them in a wierd and twisted way. The reason being is that sometimes (this was the case with EMI atleast) the labels use a lawsuit to begin negotiations. Getting sued is almost like a stamp of approval. Obviously I don't know anything about this lawsuit but if they can outlast the legal costs and emerge with a stronger subscriber base from their redesign, they'll be ok.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#7
Universal doesn't want a settlement or share of ad revenue. They want Grooveshark gone. A Universal insider was quoted as saying the label has declared 'legal jihad' against the startup.[1] This was 1 year ago. So they've had plenty of time to build their war strategy.

Besides, even if Grooveshark wanted to make a deal (I'm sure they do), they couldn't afford Universal. The vast majority of grooveshark users don't pay, but just get ads. For the ones that do pay, their monthly fee still pales in comparison to the value of the hundreds or thousands of songs they've stored in their account. I've got 300 songs in my GrooveShark. Even if were paying the $6 per month, it would take 50 months to cover the costs of those songs at $0.99 each. And during those 50 months, I would have probably added another 300 songs.

The only end game I see here is GrooveShark going out of business. And I say this with great sadness, because I'm a regular user and love the service.

1. http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/090310groovesharkumg

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#8
post #7

Universal doesn't want a settlement or share of ad revenue. They want Grooveshark gone. A Universal insider was quoted as saying the label has declared 'legal jihad' against the startup.[1] This was 1 year ago. So they've had plenty of time to build their war strategy. Besides, even if Grooveshark wanted to make a deal (I'm sure they do), they couldn't afford Universal. The vast majority of grooveshark users don't pa…

One wonders how Spotify is succeeding where Grooveshark is failing.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#9
post #8
post #7

Universal doesn't want a settlement or share of ad revenue. They want Grooveshark gone. A Universal insider was quoted as saying the label has declared 'legal jihad' against the startup.[1] This was 1 year ago. So they've had plenty of time to build their war strategy. Besides, even if Grooveshark wanted to make a deal (I'm sure they do), they couldn't afford Universal. The vast majority of grooveshark users don't pa…

One wonders how Spotify is succeeding where Grooveshark is failing.

They have legal agreements (deals) and equity incentive for the labels.

Re: Universal Music Sues Grooveshark for 100,000 Illegal Uploads

#10
Saw this coming. I am a GS subscriber, but it's quite obviously a streaming version of napster.

It is really poorly organized like napster was as well - every user who has renamed a song or used alternate spelling comes up, names that make no sense, poor quality rips, etc.

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