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7 Failed Music Startups & their Case Studies

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There are a lot of things to consider when building a new startup - where to get funding, how to validate your idea, and what features should the product have.

One of the challenges is finding a market that is willing to pay for your solution without even knowing what it is yet.

However, 90% of startups will fail and shut down.

In this article, you can find 7 failed Music startups as well as analyses on why they closed down.


7 Failed Music Startups

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Crowdmix

Crowdmix

Crowdmix was a music streaming platform where people could listen and talk about their favorite bands. They spent £14M before having a working product.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Gareth Ingham, Ian Roberts

  • Country:

    United Kingdom

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2013

  • Closed in:

    2016

  • Nº of employees:

    100-250

  • Funding Amount:

    $10M-$50M

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Mismanagement of Funds

You can read more about their failure here.

Grooveshark

Grooveshark

Grooveshark was a streaming music platform. Its major weakness was that it illegally streamed music. They were sued multiples times and had to shut down.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Andres Barreto, Josh Greenberg, Sam Tarantino

  • Country:

    United States

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2006

  • Closed in:

    2015

  • Nº of employees:

    50-100

  • Funding Amount:

    $1M-$10M

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Legal Challenges

You can read more about their failure here.

Radar Radio

Radar Radio

Radar Radio was an online radio station that was the breeding ground for the most talented musicians. It struggled with a debt of £3.6M and they shut down.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Ollie Ashley

  • Country:

    United Kingdom

  • Industry:

    Entertainment

  • Started in:

    2008

  • Closed in:

    2018

  • Nº of employees:

    10-50

  • Funding Amount:

    $0

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Mismanagement of Funds

You can read more about their failure here.

Rdio

Rdio

Rdio was a music streaming service. Its weakness was the non-existent marketing and distribution strategy. Spotify ramped up and Rdio went out of business.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Carter Adamson, Janus Friis, Niklas Zennström

  • Country:

    United States

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2008

  • Closed in:

    2015

  • Nº of employees:

    50-100

  • Funding Amount:

    > $50M

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Competition

You can read more about their failure here.

Sharingear

Sharingear

Sharinger was a marketplace for musicians to rent their instruments. They focused on a market that was too small and the business model was unsustainable.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Mircea Gabriel Eftemie

  • Country:

    Denmark

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2014

  • Closed in:

    2015

  • Nº of employees:

    1-10

  • Funding Amount:

    < $1M

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Multiple Reasons

You can read more about their failure here.

Stereomood

Stereomood

Stereomood was a music platform that provided mood-based song listings. The company was acquired but they weren’t able to make a profit.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Daniele Novaga, Eleonora Viviani, Giovanni Ferron, Maurizio Pratici

  • Country:

    Italy

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2009

  • Closed in:

    2015

  • Nº of employees:

    10-50

  • Funding Amount:

    No Data

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Acquisition Flu

You can read more about their failure here.

Turntable.fm

Turntable.fm

Turntable.fm was a platform on which DJ and fans were brought together. The cost of running it proved to be too expensive and they had to shut down.

Details of the startup:

  • Founders:

    Billy Chasen

  • Country:

    United States

  • Industry:

    Music

  • Started in:

    2011

  • Closed in:

    2013

  • Nº of employees:

    1-10

  • Funding Amount:

    $1M-$10M

  • Specific cause of failure:

    Bad Business Model

You can read more about their failure here.

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