News: Judge Finds Grooveshark Guilty, Press Gives it Death
By Marc Blanc, Contributor
Hearing about Grooveshark in the news is like getting a surprise text from your 10th-grade sweetheart. You two made some wonderful memories together, but after things fell apart, all you could do was continue onward.
If you’re looking for a nostalgia trip, jump the train over to Grooveshark now, as many tech and music outlets are saying you won’t be able to for much longer. Hindered for the last three years by federal lawsuits, the streaming service was dealt a merciful blow by New York judge Thomas P. Griesa on September 29. Griesa ruled that Grooveshark’s employees are guilty of violating thousands of copyrights by uploading over one million songs to the site since 2007. Grooveshark has been given 21 days to reach an agreement with the labels that will end the copyright violations. Publications such as The Verge and Wall Street Journal imply it will be near impossible for the company to recover from this verdict.
Along with fellow website-in-decline Rhapsody, Grooveshark was a ringleader in the first music streaming surge of the early 2000s. Suits poured in from all major record labels in 2011, knocking Grooveshark off its feet during the critical rise of Spotify and 8tracks, among others.
