EMI Sues Music Streaming Site Grooveshark

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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

“Everyday People”

Sly and the Family Stone | 1968

"Everyday People" managed to trailblaze in two different ways -- it was one of the first pop hits to deal with the subject of racial harmony, and it utilized Larry Graham's "slap" technique on the bass guitar, which would soon be copied by countless other bassists. Graham once said about his pulsating style, "I'd never done that before … that's where the freedom of creativity came in for the band, that we'd be allowed to do that." In 1978, the song's line "Different strokes for different folks" would be borrowed for the title of the hit television show Diff'rent Strokes.

More Song Stories entries »

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