Upstart Grooveshark continues growth and commitment to making all possible music available to its users
Gainesville, Fla. – May 30, 2007 – Grooveshark, a peer-to-peer music brokerage, announced today it has signed an agreement with Magnatune, dubbed “the first Internet-era record label.”
This is the third label to enter into a licensing agreement with Grooveshark since March. Magnatune joins London-based V2 Music Group and Naxos, the world’s largest classical music label. As a DRM-free peer-to-peer (P2P) music-sharing network which compensates copyright holders as well as users, the company aims to revolutionize the music industry by combining the best of P2P file sharing and online music purchase sites into one service at www.grooveshark.com.
“At Grooveshark we really believe in the progressive approach that Magnatune has taken as a label,” said Sam Tarantino, founder and CEO of Grooveshark. “This is a mutually beneficial partnership that can help them grow and allow us to expand our ever-growing catalog of artists.
“The indie music world is perhaps the hardest hit by illegal music sharing,” Tarantino continued. “By partnering with Magnatune, we hope to stem the tide and provide a safe haven for the young and independent musicians out there who want to have their music heard by their fans, yet still get paid so they can pay their bills. We also will be strengthening that intimate direct connection between fan and artist, right to the point of musical conversation.”
Founded in 2003, Magnatune (www.magnatune.com) is an independent, online record label and music store that sells and licenses its entire catalog of over 200 independent recording artists in every genre. Magnatune supports fair-trade music and shares equally all revenue with recording artists. All music can be previewed in full, free of charge with a “try before you buy” philosophy.
“We applaud Grooveshark’s approach of making the largest possible catalog of music available while compensating artists and the members of their community,” said John Buckman, Magnatune founder and CEO. “It’s clear to us the music industry needs to change, and that’s why we founded Magnatune, and we’re excited to see a unique distribution channel like Grooveshark to complement our efforts.”
Visitors to grooveshark.com can browse songs uploaded by other members and pay to download MP3 files with no digital rights management (DRM) technology. Songs vary in price, but cost no more than 99 cents. Grooveshark will pay appropriate royalties to copyright holders by taking commissions from users’ transactions and also compensate users with free music for community participation such as uploading songs, fixing song tags, flagging unwanted files or reviewing music. Members will be rewarded based on their level of contribution to the community.
About Grooveshark
Grooveshark, a peer-to-peer (P2P) music file-sharing community that brokers music transactions between members, is a service of Escape Media, Inc. By charging for the songs exchanged between members on their site, Grooveshark will compensate copyright holders and users while providing the convenience and selection of P2P file sharing in an online music community. All Grooveshark files are free of digital rights management (DRM) technology, allowing users to play the songs they purchase on any type of computer or digital music player. For more information, visit www.grooveshark.com or www.escapemg.com.
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