Let’s just face it — anytime some new start-up comes along and tries to innovate around the idea of music, it is hit by some roadblocks. Latest one to realize that – Turntable.fm. The social music discovery service is now unavailable to International visitors and is now restricted to just the US residents. In a tweet this morning, the company shared the news with its followers.
It is a shame considering Turntable.fm was just beginning to blow up and ushering in a new era of music consumption. In a few weeks, Turntable.fm (formerly Stickybits) had attracted 140,000 members and was being actively pursued by investors. Many were skeptical of the legality of the service and the current actions are only going to increase investor skepticism.
Being supremely addicted to Turntable.fm, I hope this little startup finds a way to first survive and then thrive, because it has a lot of potential. Olga Nunes, a San Francisco-based musician used Turntable.fm to get traction and push sales of her music. I think this is the read potential of Turntable.fm — artists and fans, all in one room, driving sales. Say what Lady Gaga???
What is Turntable.fm? Here is what I wrote in a previous post.
Turntable.fm is a New York City-based social music listening and discovery service that is spreading on the web like wildfire. The idea behind the service is pretty simple: You sign-up by using your Facebook credentials, create a music listening room and invite people to come join you in the room. You can create a playlist by selecting songs from the service or upload your tracks. Others can join, and become co-deejays.
If you don’t want to deejay, you can skip from one room to another based on musical interests. You can chat with others and share your playlists. You even get your own avatar that bobs to music. The whole experience is not just about music. It’s about finding others who enjoy music and forming relationships with them — albeit transient ones.
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