EMI Music is now suing Grooveshark, according to sources at both Digital Music News and Digital Media Wire today. Grooveshark is a music discovery site that allows fan to search and play songs on-demand, though no downloading is supported. Community features like smart recommendations also exist.
Grooveshark execs indicate industry-wide negotiations have been ongoing, but it appears the process has reached an impasse with EMI. “Recently, EMI Records chose to abandon the template we’ve built with the help of other major copyright holders and opted for their traditional intimidation tactic of filing a lawsuit as a negotiating tool,” the company stated. “We find the use of this negotiating strategy counterproductive, as Grooveshark has been willing to conclude an agreement with EMI Records that is economically sustainable for both EMI Records and a start-up company the size of Grooveshark.”
Whether EMI is using this as an intimidation tactic or Grooveshark is attempting to negotiate rates well below industry standards, we do not know at this time. Either way, the lawsuit leaves both in a predicament in which money cannot be made from the Grooveshark concept. At a time when music start-ups are dropping like flies and labels are scrambling to find revenue sources to replace dwindling record sales, lawsuits may not be the best answer to industry woes.
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Read more on Digital Music News and Digital Media Wire.
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