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The site is just an image with small text, so I've transcribed it here; --- Dear music fans, Today we are shutting down Grooveshark. We started out nearly t

The site is just an image with small text, so I've transcribed it here; --- 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 the 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 the settlement agreement with the 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 copyrights. At the time of our launch, few music services provided the experience we wanted to offer - and think you deserve. Fortunately, that’s not 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: http://whymusicmatters.com/find-music http://whymusicmatters.com/find-music. It has been a privilege getting to know so many of you and enjoying music together. Thank you for being such passionate fans. Yours in music, Your friends at Grooveshark April 30, 2015 -- Source at https://denpa.moe/~syrup/grooveshark-notice.txt https://denpa.moe/~syrup/grooveshark-notice.txt

ams6110 11y ago
Should have been personally signed by the CEO, not "your friends at..."
- bhouston 11y ago
  It doens't sound like a letter the CEO would write -- it appears to be mostly reflective of the opinion/perspective of those that won the lawsuit and took over the site.
  - whistlerbrk 11y ago
    Yes, I'd agree especially considering that it's an image not text.
    - mirithekiwi 11y ago
      What is the difference, if you don't mind me asking? How does the use of an image instead of text make it seem like it's not actually from Grooveshark?
  - samsolomon 11y ago
    Wow, that's an interesting thought. I thought it was odd that they would put up an image. Even the most novice developers could have build that page in HTML.
vorg 11y ago
First Groovy gets its development funding pulled and hosting infrastructure shut down, now 3 months later Grooveshark does the same. It's not a good year for anything named Groov* in the startup space!
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- Havvy 11y ago
  I don't think Grooveshark counts as a startup.
  - vorg 11y ago
    Nor does the Groovy Language, but they both started up about 10 yrs ago -- perhaps it took a decade for the Groov* startup curse to manifest!
angersock 11y ago
So, how long until the record companies go after others with those patents? I'm betting the wheels are already in motion.
27182818284 11y ago
As part of the settlement agreement with the 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 copyrights. Yeah Grooveshark was really getting in the way of me paying for that album ($10) and song ($1.something) I paid for in the last couple of days. Oh and that $1 song? I bought it because I heard it on one of those videos-that-is-really-just-a-still-frame-so-they-can-share-the-music for the song. Also, what is Grooveshark again? I've heard of it, but I don't think I've ever used it. My experiences can't be atypical, can they? Was it really a threat worth shutting down and all of the legal expenses? This just hurts me because literally in the last couple of days I watched an unlicensed copy of a song, liked it, and then bought it because I could and I wanted better quality sound. The (different) album was a similar pipeline--A link on Reddit directed me to the song (in the form of a YouTube video) and I then ended up buying the album. I can't be the only one.
- shock-value 11y ago
  I definitely think you're in the minority. I don't remember the last time I bought an album or song, but I use streaming music services all the time. Same goes for anyone I know. Admittedly anecdotal but then again so is your assertion.
  - vidarh 11y ago
    I find that interesting because I mostly use streaming services to find music I buy. Largely because I've yet to use a streaming service that handles intermittent connectivity well enough (you'd think that my commute from a densely populated London suburb, along one of the highest density commuter routes in Europe, in to Central London would have decent mobile data coverage, wouldn't you... But you'd be sadly mistaken) to be worth using most of the time. Also because most of them are really quite horrible at picking tracks I want to listen to at any given time overall.... I couldn't imagine relying on those services for most of my listening.
    - 11y ago
noonespecial 11y ago
"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." It seems so easy compensate that second group that I work harder breathing each day. That first group, it seems like I could get a message to mars easier than to send them a whole dollar.
- mraison 11y ago
  To be fair, companies such as Bandcamp are making this easier every day. If you're an artist and want to be directly paid by your fans, it is becoming easier every day. However I agree that a big part of the industry is still very opaque (including services like Spotify, unfortunately)
- Jgrubb 11y ago
  Buy a t-shirt. That's the most direct route to actually help them out with as few middlemen as possible.
  - willismichael 11y ago
    Can somebody verify this? I'm one who used Groove Shark to discovered music that I really like and then bought it in an effort to support the musician (thanks big music, you just took away one of your means of extracting money out of me). I would happily wear the t-shirt if I knew that it was in fact the most direct route to actually transfer money to the musician.
    - path411 11y ago
      I remember that most bands, especially small ones made most of their money off merch. Not sure how it works for larger bands though.
    - Jgrubb 11y ago
      I was a professional musician for 15 years. After having kids, the amount of time that I would've had to spend on the road playing and selling t shirts would've far outweighed the time I would've had to be home raising them, so I started teaching myself development in the tour bus. That was 7 years ago. My old band is still out there, selling out Red Rocks, and any of their merch that you can buy at the show has the highest margin of anything. This is true for every band from John Mayer to the Avett Brothers to your local Dead cover band. So help me God, buy a shirt at the show or on their website.
reality_czech 11y ago
... and in strange aeons, shutdown messages themselves can shutdown.

ams6110 11y ago

Should have been personally signed by the CEO, not "your friends at..."

bhouston 11y ago
It doens't sound like a letter the CEO would write -- it appears to be mostly reflective of the opinion/perspective of those that won the lawsuit and took over the site.
- whistlerbrk 11y ago
  Yes, I'd agree especially considering that it's an image not text.
  - mirithekiwi 11y ago
    What is the difference, if you don't mind me asking? How does the use of an image instead of text make it seem like it's not actually from Grooveshark?
- samsolomon 11y ago
  Wow, that's an interesting thought. I thought it was odd that they would put up an image. Even the most novice developers could have build that page in HTML.

vorg 11y ago

First Groovy gets its development funding pulled and hosting infrastructure shut down, now 3 months later Grooveshark does the same. It's not a good year for anything named Groov* in the startup space!

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
Havvy 11y ago
I don't think Grooveshark counts as a startup.
- vorg 11y ago
  Nor does the Groovy Language, but they both started up about 10 yrs ago -- perhaps it took a decade for the Groov* startup curse to manifest!

angersock 11y ago

So, how long until the record companies go after others with those patents? I'm betting the wheels are already in motion.

27182818284 11y ago

As part of the settlement agreement with the 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 copyrights. Yeah Grooveshark was really getting in the way of me paying for that album ($10) and song ($1.something) I paid for in the last couple of days. Oh and that $1 song? I bought it because I heard it on one of those videos-that-is-really-just-a-still-frame-so-they-can-share-the-music for the song. Also, what is Grooveshark again? I've heard of it, but I don't think I've ever used it. My experiences can't be atypical, can they? Was it really a threat worth shutting down and all of the legal expenses? This just hurts me because literally in the last couple of days I watched an unlicensed copy of a song, liked it, and then bought it because I could and I wanted better quality sound. The (different) album was a similar pipeline--A link on Reddit directed me to the song (in the form of a YouTube video) and I then ended up buying the album. I can't be the only one.

shock-value 11y ago
I definitely think you're in the minority. I don't remember the last time I bought an album or song, but I use streaming music services all the time. Same goes for anyone I know. Admittedly anecdotal but then again so is your assertion.
- vidarh 11y ago
  I find that interesting because I mostly use streaming services to find music I buy. Largely because I've yet to use a streaming service that handles intermittent connectivity well enough (you'd think that my commute from a densely populated London suburb, along one of the highest density commuter routes in Europe, in to Central London would have decent mobile data coverage, wouldn't you... But you'd be sadly mistaken) to be worth using most of the time. Also because most of them are really quite horrible at picking tracks I want to listen to at any given time overall.... I couldn't imagine relying on those services for most of my listening.
  - 11y ago

noonespecial 11y ago

"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." It seems so easy compensate that second group that I work harder breathing each day. That first group, it seems like I could get a message to mars easier than to send them a whole dollar.

mraison 11y ago
To be fair, companies such as Bandcamp are making this easier every day. If you're an artist and want to be directly paid by your fans, it is becoming easier every day. However I agree that a big part of the industry is still very opaque (including services like Spotify, unfortunately)
Jgrubb 11y ago
Buy a t-shirt. That's the most direct route to actually help them out with as few middlemen as possible.
- willismichael 11y ago
  Can somebody verify this? I'm one who used Groove Shark to discovered music that I really like and then bought it in an effort to support the musician (thanks big music, you just took away one of your means of extracting money out of me). I would happily wear the t-shirt if I knew that it was in fact the most direct route to actually transfer money to the musician.
  - path411 11y ago
    I remember that most bands, especially small ones made most of their money off merch. Not sure how it works for larger bands though.
  - Jgrubb 11y ago
    I was a professional musician for 15 years. After having kids, the amount of time that I would've had to spend on the road playing and selling t shirts would've far outweighed the time I would've had to be home raising them, so I started teaching myself development in the tour bus. That was 7 years ago. My old band is still out there, selling out Red Rocks, and any of their merch that you can buy at the show has the highest margin of anything. This is true for every band from John Mayer to the Avett Brothers to your local Dead cover band. So help me God, buy a shirt at the show or on their website.

reality_czech 11y ago

... and in strange aeons, shutdown messages themselves can shutdown.