PluggedIn, a startup that launched back in April 2008 as a Hulu for music videos, is closing up shop. The company has run out of money after negotiations for a $2.5 million Series B funding round fell apart at the last minute. Co-founder Brett O’Brien says that PluggedIn is currently seeking buyers for the company’s technology and team for a price of around $3 million (the company’s cost of investment).
PluggedIn differentiated itself from the plethora of other music sites by offering a library of over 11,000 licensed High Definition music videos, presented in a simple and aesthetically pleasing interface that was not unlike Hulu’s. Users could browse through over a million artist profiles (which were dynamically generated from content on sites like Wikipedia), and could use an app built on Adobe’s AIR platform to automatically generate a user profile featuring their favorite artists. The site also offered some basic social functionality, though it sounds like PluggedIn development was cut short before ultimately launching a “distributed social media player” that could be embedded elsewhere but still retain interaction between site members.
Despite its attractive interface and high quality videos, the site never really took off. This is probably because there are already a number of very well established music communities, like MySpace Music, which have millions of users and many of the same of music videos (albeit at a lower bitrate). HD quality is a nice perk, but most users simply don’t care enough about it to jump ship and join an entirely new community. And unlike some of these competitors, PluggedIn requires the Move Networks video streaming plugin, which raises the barrier of entry (though it is fairly common since it is also used by Fox, The CW, and ABC). That said, PluggedIn’s technology may well be an appetizing prospect for websites that already get a significant amount of traffic.
PluggedIn has been added to the Deadpool.
It failed b/c you needed Move networks plugin.
Flippin insane.
Oh for God sakes give me a break, a “plug in” never destroyed a business model (not even Joost). It’s a cop out response.
I for one was excited when this service came out, until I couldn’t play a single video because of the plugin. Hulu on the other hand, no plugin. So I can watch. The plugin made no sense to me either.
I’m sure there’s more they could do with the technology. I wonder who’ll buy that off them?
TechFilipino
This is the first I’ve heard of it.
Plugged In connects individuals and cultivates minds by creating the opportunity to produce, express, and contribute using technology.
Startup advice:
Do not invest in anything that has to do with music licensing.
It is a money pit to start-up hell.
I agree with Dan in the last comment….there is not enough room for anymore music start-ups. We have seen one already on Startup Revival
I would be interested to hear if anyone pays $3 million for the assets.
I just tried watching a music video on it and it told me my browser isn’t supported.
Wtf.
I believe the key is to focus on the online community vs. “technology” and/or perks. A few months into my last venture and I learned pretty quick that it’s all for naught if the community connection is treated as secondary or superfluous.
Dont try and launch a video site guys. Unless you got millions you wont compete!!
I called it in October. It’s nice to see when you’re right.
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Julian Kussman – October 28th, 2008 at 8:39 am PDT
Once again, requiring an unknown, unheard of 3rd party plug in on a brand new site means I won’t be back.
If I visited any of the known brand sites you listed and they asked me to install that plug in, I would opt to view in SD because I already have Flash.
The one benefit those sites get is they have established content I want.
I do view HD content on Hulu, and I never had to install a 3rd party plug in.
If a user can’t visit your site and start watching videos right away, consider them a lost customer.
Uhh, you do install a third party plugin for Hulu, Adobe Flash Player 10. Right now, FP10 is not at the 98% penetration rate Adobe touts.
http://www.adob...enetration.html
Only ~55% of the market has FP10.