EMI Drops Grooveshark Licensing Deal

Grooveshark is being sued by EMI Music, the only major label to license its content to the streaming music service, the New York Times reports. The label group, which has terminated its licensing agreement with the company, claims in a suit filed in New York State Supreme Court that the service owes $300,000 plus interest for nonpayment on a promissory note.

“Grooveshark was recently forced to make the difficult decision to part ways with EMI due to EMI’s currently unsustainable streaming rates and EMI’s pending merger with Universal Music Group, which we consider monopolistic and in violation of antitrust laws,” Grooveshark said in a statement responding to the suit. “To date, Grooveshark has paid over $2.6 million to EMI, but we have yet to find sustainable streaming rates.”

Grooveshark, a service that allows users to upload files to the company’s servers, has been the target of lawsuits by all four major label groups. Universal Music Group, the largest music company and imminent owner of EMI’s recorded music division, filed a federal copyright infringement case against Grooveshark, which was later joined by Sony Music and Warner Music Group.