EMI Sues Music Streaming Site Grooveshark

In our new issue, Rolling Stone calls music streaming site Grooveshark the "audio version of YouTube," adding that it's "the best service for now because of its great selection, but it operates in a legal gray area. Enjoy it while it lasts." Well, we hoped you enjoyed it: EMI is suing the Florida-based Grooveshark, which has gained a popular following since launching in November 2008, for copyright violation, AllThingsD reports. Grooveshark was reportedly in the midst of a licensing deal with the major label, but instead EMI — as it has with streaming sites SeeqPod and Sideload — turned around and instead sued Grooveshark.

"We hope that EMI Records eventually follows the lead of the many forward-thinking labels we are already working with, who would rather get their artists exposure and a fair share of our revenue than block content access and force customers to illegal networks," Grooveshark's operators said in a statement following the lawsuit. The music streaming site insists they do have deals worked out with publishers, labels and artists, but don't get into specifics.

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Song Stories

“The A Team”

Ed Sheeran | 2011

This debut track from the then-20-year-old British singer-songwriter has a dark story behind it. Sheeran says he culls songwriting inspiration from "viewing other people's situations," which, for the heroine in "The A Team," involves drug addiction and prostitution that began as a teen. Sheeran paints the woman's trials with haunting imagery such as "But lately her face seems/Slowly sinking, wasting/Crumbling like pastries." "I did a gig at a homeless shelter, [and the song] is about one of the women there. It's her story," he said.

More Song Stories entries »

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