Sonific, an online music playing servuce similar to Pandora and Seeqpod, is to close May 1 as the company was unable to obtain licensed music rights in a way that made the service viable.
Gerd Leonhard, Co-Founder & CEO writes:
1) There are countless startups providing access to any and all music streams without any license whatsoever. However, when we approached the major record label decision makers in order to obtain licenses for some of the music in their catalogs we have routinely faced demands for very large cash advances and fixed per-stream minimum payments, pressure to give them ‘free’ company equity, and requirements of utterly bizarre usage restrictions. It seems that the industry’s major stakeholders still prefer this turf to remain unlicensed rather than to allow real-life, workable and market-based solutions to emerge by working with new companies such as Sonific. This is not the way forward.
2) We therefore had to realize that a company that wants to provide interactive streaming music services must either a) risk the constant complaints of their users, due to the lack of hit content b) proceed to use any and all music (this is routinely done by allowing users to upload their own MP3s) without the required licenses, and therefore be at the total mercy of the record labels at some point in time, and c) build a huge audience very quickly, based on having the content available - permission or not -, and then very quickly sell themselves to a large company that will take care of placating the labels while the money is plenty and the pockets are deep.
Unfortunately we don’t like any of these choices.
Sonific joins the TechCrunch Deadpool
thanks to Andrew Watson for the tip
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Music industry doesn’t want competition as the more people pushing “their” product, the less likelyhood that “their” solution will be viable when it does eventually come out.
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com - Create Unique Memories
Option 2b) is a lot more viable than it seems. Didn’t youtube go that route?
Mark
Founder,
ClutterMe.com
im on the labels side.
Real life and workable solutions? what a cocky idiot. Sorry but this site wasnt going to generate enough cash to even support itself anyways.
@2 mark
yea youtube did, and thats why they are in a $1 billion class action lawsuit with viacom.
Another story of cocky startups thinking they know how to run a business.
So sad.
Ak.
Sounds a bit like sour milk to me.
MagNet is coming!
someone please tell me that Pandora will survive RIAA
to BS : “Another story of cocky startups thinking they know how to run a business.”. Do majors and labels know ? That is a scoop !!
@BS - “Another story of cocky startups thinking they know how to run a business.” Now that IS a bit f**kin rich coming from you lot! This actually has to go down as comment of the year. Duncan - please take note.
Never mind youtube, in the music space imeem is the poster child for option 2b - sonific even named them a couple of times, citing them as an obstacle to getting any attention from major labels.
But they had the last laugh, in the shutdown message sonific has pointed its partners at competitors like we7
I’m sure this will strike that fatal blow that will finally put an end to imeem’s stellar growth, really.
This is indeed very sad. I am wondering where is imeem headed
Prateek Dayal
Co-Founder Muziboo.com