Grooveshark
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|
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Type of site
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Music |
|---|---|
| Owner | Escape Media Group Inc. |
| Created by | Sam Tarantino Josh Greenberg Andrés Barreto |
| Commercial | Yes (freemium) |
| Registration | Optional |
| Launched | March 30, 2006 (closed on April 1, 2015) |
| Current status | Defunct |
Grooveshark was a web-based music streaming service owned and operated by Escape Media Group in the United States. Users could upload digital audio files, which could then be streamed and organized in playlists. The Grooveshark website had a search engine, music streaming features, and a music recommendation system.
The legality of Grooveshark's business model, which permitted users to upload copyrighted music, remains undetermined. The company won a major lawsuit filed by Universal Music Group concerning use of Universal's pre-1972 recordings. Grooveshark was also sued for copyright violations by EMI Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. Concerns about copyrights led Apple and Facebook to remove Grooveshark's applications from the iOS App Store and Facebook platform respectively. However, Grooveshark was available in alternative app stores, such as Cydia, Google Play and BlackBerry World. It was also a default application on Ubuntu Touch.
On April 30, 2015, Grooveshark shut down as part of a settlement between the service and Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment, and Warner Music Group. The site briefly redirected to ScoreBig's website, but as of 2017 the URL does not lead anywhere.
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