It’s a sad day for music lovers everywhere.
Grooveshark, a modern-day Napster, has finally shut down after a 6-year legal battle. With its first lawsuit occurring in 2009, it’s surprising that the free-to-listen streaming service lasted this long. They never had the proper licensing privileges, and this was common knowledge. The reason the shutdown took so long, however, comes as a result of the complexity of copyright law and the site’s ability to beat around the bush. Although record labels had sufficient evidence regarding the unlicensed, copyright material available on the site, Grooveshark’s legal team consistently rejected the accusations, forcing the labels to compile an extensive case.
The Grooveshark website has now left a heartfelt message, in which they admit their mistakes and apologize for their reckless actions. Although their intentions benefitted the general public, they neglected the artist community and the laws protecting them. 
Dear music fans,
Today we are shutting down Grooveshark.
We started out nearly ten years ago with the goal of helping fans share and discover music. But despite best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service.
That was wrong. We apologize. Without reservation.
As part of a settlement agreement with the major record companies, we have agreed to cease operations immediately, wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of this website, our mobile apps and intellectual property, including our patents and copyrights.
At the time of our launch, few music services provided the experience we wanted to offer – and think you deserve. Fortunately, that’s no longer the case. There are now hundreds of fan friendly, affordable services available for you to choose from, including Spotify, Deezer, Google Play, Beats Music, Rhapsody and Rdio, among many others.
If you love music and respect the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible, use a licensed service that compensates artists and other rights holders. You can find out more about the many great services available where you live here:
http://whymusicmatters.com/find-music.It has been a privilege getting to know so many of you and enjoying great music together. Thank you for being such passionate fans.
Yours in music,
Your friends at Grooveshark
April 30, 2015
