Grooveshark, the music streaming website, has officially shut down. The only thing left on the website is a letter to it's devoted users over the past eight years. Grooveshark had been hit with a $17 Billion lawsuit back in 2011 from a group of major music labels. The issue stemmed from users being able to upload and share music for free on the site.
Grooveshark shares in the letter that they have agreed to shut down immediately. They have also agreed to "wipe clean all of the record companies' copyrighted material and give up ownership of the website, apps, and intellectual property. They also stated that their are many great websites where former users could stream the music that they love legally. Take a look at the letter below.
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 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: https://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
April 30, 2015
