I use Grooveshark exclusively now. I was on Pandora before “premium” and 40 hour limits and frankly wasn’t too impressed with grooveshark until those things drove me away from Pandora. The only thing I miss about Pandora is the reliability. Grooveshark has a tendency to break often. The tradeoff is that I’m able to discover far more new music and hear different versions of old favorites that Pandora simply cannot offer.

In short, the author sounds like a stodgy old codger… Let the kids have their fun. This whole “Music business” business is getting old.

Can someone tell me where indie labels focus their marketing costs atm as im sure cpc of 0.05 on a social network is better than plastering flyers and posters on outside walls and railway underpasses, or am I wrong?

Unless there is significant innovation in this field then every company that attempts this will fail, they need to wake up and learn from the many prior examples of this.

My take on this whole debate is that all musicians copyright should be paid for by the likes of Grooveshark. They like all the others are set up to generate an income they are technology businesses not cool indie music fans helping fans around the world hear music. When they all cry wolf that the big boys i.e. record labels are harassing real fans of music when in fact it is these websites that will eventually kill music as we know it. Not every musician does a ‘Coldplay’ and they have to live on small incomes that are now being desimated by technology thiefs. So when the likes of Grooveshark make it ok for a musicians to go into Walmart and get food for free then the music can be free.
Am sure groove shark etc would have me in court if i copied their code for their website and used it to set up groove shark 2……..

These web thiefs are not defending music they are attacking it and real music fans should stay away from these people. Do we want technology geeks dominating music or musicians, time for the music fans to choose. computer geek or musician you decide

It’s a shame that once again a music startup offering a great experience is staring down the barrel of a legal shotgun. Pirate Bay, Muxtape, Favtape, SeeqPod, and now Grooveshark. I like(d) and use(d) sites such as these because it made finding and listening to new music fun again. The act of finding and sharing across various social networks made music discovery a shared event. No longer do we have to depend on Clear Channel’s and corporate gatekeepers aimed at profiting from garnering the broadest audience to sell ads. I AM THE GATEKEEPER NOW. If find a new song from a new band I’ve never heard of, you bet I’m going to share it with all my friends no matter what the genre or success level. It’s because I want to share that experience with them and hope it creates the same emotions I found. At age 27 and busy with life, if I don’t see my friends not see every day, week, or ever again when will I EVER be able to say to them “Listen to this.” BUT since I am connected to a whole lot of them online when I share music with them they do appreciate it. I can’t tell you how many times friends have told me to “keep ‘em coming!” because I’m finding and sharing music that they would never even know where to begin to find. Other streaming radio sites such as Pandora (HUGE fan but my enthusiasm has dimmed as of late) are great but they lack the sharing functionality that sites, such as those targeted for take down, offer.

I bought Radiohead’s In Rainbows boxset for $70 AND downloaded it for $10. I recently purchased Dent May & His Magnificent Ukulele on vinyl from his website and the mp3s on iTunes bc I could not get “Meet Me In The Garden” out of my head after finding the stream on LP33. I recently saw Dead Confederate and bought their album on vinyl at the show (which came with mp3s… Which I then promptly emailed out to all my friends). Deliver a quality product and I will gladly buy. Deliver a quality service and I’ll gladly pay. All the majors are upset because people like me are shifting their dollars elsewhere. Before, everyone bought their crap because they were the only joint in town selling sterile, processed junk. Now we have so many choices that the only way we can find new music is by friends sharing. I listen. I like. I buy. I go to shows. Boom.

At our label/artist mgmt company, we recently began talks with Grooveshark regarding their royalties program and online promotions. They are giving us the same rate that they are giving the majors and offered us an unbelievable deal for marketing one of our bands’ tour! We were able to go behind the scenes and claim all of our songs from people’s uploads. In addition, they provide stats and metrics that we never get to see with Pandora or Myspace. Grooveshark hasn’t made us pay or sign up for anything and have been nothing but friendly compadres in the fight to change music through new business models.

Sure you can stream the community uploaded music but you still can’t download (though I know they are trying to work with Amazon to integrate this). So maybe Fan A uploaded their entire torrent library, that doesn’t mean Listener B will be able to download that “illegal” copy. But Listener B may have never heard or found our artists had not Fan A uploaded and shared (Come to think of it, I should upload my terrabyte of albums I’ve collected from CDs and trading with friends during college). As a label we are interested because it’s yet another way for fans to discover our artists’ music and share with their friends. All of our bands have built their success on constant touring and delivering a unique, consistent, and memorable experience. Our fans will find our music anyway they choose and we really don’t care because our fans know that the live experience is where it’s at.

As far as DashGo’s experience… It sounds like they were getting involved when Grooveshark was of a different mindset/ business plan. And Grooveshark isn’t giving anything away. Streaming versus downloading (letting them take it anywhere) are two different beasts. And I’d argue that anytime someone listens to your music, that sounds like promotion to me. It would be nice if they allowed more customized artist pages so we could put links, promos, etc. but hey, they’re a startup… These things take time. As with all technology, we’d rather be on board sooner than later. Judging by the companies advertising with them (RockBand, Pepsi, Time Warner Cable, etc) they feel the same way. And as with all new technologies and services there will always be issues. They provide a cool, new, forward thinking service that is generating a positive response at the ground level (causing the majors to shut it down).

I was recently at the SF Music Tech Summit and was blown away at the number of startups aiming to change the way we think about, interact with, and experience music as fans, artists, and producers. The future of music is bright so long as the majors and their legal dogs get out of the way. People are going to get the free music no matter what because music was always meant to be a shared experience. Music is an inalienable right. Sites like Grooveshark are going to continue to push the boundaries of music for fans and artists until the corporate music industry dinosaur chokes on a dick.

In closing, I really liked this article I read on Grooveshark in Rolling Stone… I guess they jinxed ‘em. Spotify is the only other service I’m interested in on that list but we shall see what comes of them when the majors are through.

http://bit.ly/VKrTW

-SocialSoundSystem
http://socialsoundsystem.com/

Grooveshark is trying to innovate in a marketplace that needs a savior. Essentially you get to hear music you like, be exposed to music that you would have never listened to before (using some type of predictive taste technology) and advertise what you are listening to to your friends. This comes at no cost to the artist. As an artist that uses Grooveshark and uploads my own music to it, it is priceless.

The only reason a label would be angry is if people don’t like the product that they put out enough to buy it. It must be frustrating to be in an industry where all you had to do was advertise like hell and records got sold. There was a time when you could put out garbage and get away with it. For better or for worse, music is easier to obtain now and someone is going to have to learn how to make money off of it without lawyers. Lawyers got us into this problem. They want to perpetuate it. Blame anyone you want that you aren’t selling records but the fact is, if you put out good music you can make money off of it.

I don’t know Mr. Patterson and I can’t relate to his experience with Grooveshark. Since I’ve signed up to be an artist distributing through them I’ve gotten a phone call or email at least once a week asking me what I think of this or that and how they can improve. Their entire model revolves around how to get the artists paid. Their back-end is all about the money. It’s made so you can see how much you are making and if you advertise how much better you do. It is built to help you build fans and promote your performances. All other services I have used made it their second priority. They all say to themselves, lets get users and worry about how to pay artists next. Grooveshark is completely opposite. All they care about is making sure music keeps getting produced and those producers are rewarded.

I’m an artist and I need to eat. Major labels never paid me. You need to sue just to audit them every quarter. IT’S S.O.P. Indie labels never paid me. Their operating expenses and phantom marketing costs consumed my royalties. Grooveshark is the only place I have ever benefited from as an artist.

Peter, you really should use a broader selection of sources when you publish an assassination piece like this.

EMI, drop your case. This is the company you want to invest in. Not sue.

Patterson, I see you managed Linkin Park. You are obviously part of that group that dumped tons of money on marketing an artist and little on substance. You lend about as much credibility to this piece as it deserves.

So obviously, I was a little stunned to read your comments, Mr. Patterson. You make a whole hell of a lot of valid points. I really hope that Grooveshark is not screwing over indie labels, but I can’t help but think they aren’t based on the label list they have on their website.

Ben, if you got free McDonalds and Budweiser from watching the Super Bowl you would become a fatass. THAT would suck. However, the analogy I will make is that EVERYONE is getting free McD’s (music) and booze without having to watch the Super Bowl with the illegal downloading going on. So many people illegally download music now–to compare free streaming to that is more than a little dangerous and short sighted on your part. Have you read Grooveshark’s statement? It sounds like they’re ready to pay up, and it sounds like they already have. I really can’t wait to hear their response to this, my opinion of the company is kind of hinging on it. So please, Grooveshark, speak up!

Also, Braydon, who gives a hoot about Rvibe?

In GS’s case, neither was the case. They offered music for free, and they charged a fee to people who didn’t need to pay. So, it’s rather backwards.

I have always liked the GS folks, but when you flagrantly break copyright law, and do it without adding real business value, it’s a tough sell.

We’ve attempted to not only remain above board with our artists, labels and promoters, but also make sure we add value all along the way to the extent that it’s possible for us run a successful business.

Now, whether we succeed or not remains to be seen. But at least we’re getting buy in from our stakeholders (the artists and labels) and from our customers (who do pay).

A mothly flat fee, or a “pay for what you listen” fee. In the first case I would use it as my main listening device, in the second I would use grooveshark as a “try before actually buy”. (when i love a song i could play it thousand times and that would not be economic for me… that only works for “listen and trash” songs. ).

Also, many times I discovered new artists just because they were on the main Grooveshark search engine, all the times that i went to the homepage with the need for some music but without the exact band name in mind.

Everytime that I found with that search key a nice artist I deepened my listening, and wanted to know more about the artist. Just like hearing a nice song on the radio.

I dont know if the guys at Grooveshark will ever get the 10% of all their promises, but theirs is the coolest plan i’ve seen in a while.

What a joke!