

SoundCloud and Uploads - ganeumann
http://blog.turntable.fm/post/60847013839/soundcloud-and-uploads

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nugget
Education. Health care. Music. Three industries within which I would never try
a startup due to such twisted incentives and resistance. Much respect to those
who do try even when they know the odds.

~~~
proggR
Wish me luck with my music venture then! I'm going to need it.

~~~
acidity
Can we share mail address? Even I am working on my own music venture and would
like to talk it out. Mail me at riteshn AT gmail.

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kristopolous
I've magically kept [http://80smtv.com](http://80smtv.com) alive for 18 months
now. I would have sworn it wouldn't last this long without some lawyer taking
interest.

I think the reason is that I kept it a hobby and never tried to make a
business out of it. Just make it a money pit and you are (probably) fine.

At the end of the day, I'd rather have it exist then be a meal ticket.

PS: If you want the source, I give that away too:
[https://github.com/kristopolous/emptyv](https://github.com/kristopolous/emptyv)

~~~
ry0ohki
It seems to just be using YouTube, what would the legal issues be (besides
perhaps using the MTV name)?

~~~
kristopolous
I subvert video ads and I dunno ... it just feels very "illegallish"

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nthitz
The original letter which this blog adds little to:
[http://blog.turntable.fm/post/60847013839/soundcloud-and-
upl...](http://blog.turntable.fm/post/60847013839/soundcloud-and-uploads)

The mashup.fm room I frequent was pretty upset and many have since moved to
plug.dj which streams directly from Youtube and SoundCloud in an attempt to
not host any music and bypass copyright issues. I wonder how long it can last.
Plug.DJ also has international support which TT lacked.

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mithaler
I love Turntable, and it's sad to see this, but it's not a huge surprise; for
their whole history they've offered an amazing service and charged well below
the true value of the service (they only added ads recently).

I figure we'll soon see a tiered model letting users upload directly for a
fee, which is probably a good move.

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pacifi30
This is very sad news, they were a darling when they started
[http://allthingsd.com/20110621/turntable-fm-really-is-
awesom...](http://allthingsd.com/20110621/turntable-fm-really-is-awesome-is-
it-legal/) and for the most part of the last year I used to like them mostly
their mashup station. But somehow the repetitive nature of the songs being
played and the whole idea that as a user, I just want to listen to music and
not participate made me switch back to Pandora. I had no idea that they were
bleeding internally and reading the news just make me realize that in the
start up world you never know when you are in the limelight and when you go in
oblivion.

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codeulike
I never could use turntable because I'm in the UK but from what I heard a lot
of the rooms ended up with a really narrow focus with people downvoting any
music that didn't fit some ultra specific genre.

I've used similar sites that made it much harder to 'reject' songs
(Collaborative Jukebox, Listening Room) and the experience is actually much
nicer - you get to hear a much wider range of interesting stuff.

Turntable.fm is operating in a tough environment for sure, but I think one
mistake they've made is that encouraging people to vote for and against tracks
is an obvious feature, but not necessarily a very wise one.

~~~
sgarman
One man's trash is another man's treasure. This ultra specific nature of the
rooms is one thing I liked about turntable over other services. I found
everyone else's "Radio" paled in comparison to community based playlists. They
played the same "safe" songs over and over again; however, with turntable you
get people trying to introduce new stuff while still under the heavy pressure
of the crowd to meet peoples expectations.

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Widow
This is a great idea and it's a shame that we've come to this point. I guess
the current state of affairs with song copy rights and label groups will claim
another start up. I've been using this site since 2011 and only hope for the
best but damn if only they could have kept it open internationally.

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tinbad
Always sad to see startups struggle, however turntable.fm seemed like a
company that didn't have the best survival chances from the beginning. IMO as
a company, it offers to little to justify its existence in the highly
competitive marketplace that is online music. It's a cool gimmick, or product
at best that could potentially be of greater value if it would be 1) part of a
larger eco system (spotify, itunes, etc) or 2) as an experimental, self-
sustaining through ad revenue, side project perhaps.

I also might not be part of the core target audience for turntable.fm but my
experience (and the people I know who've used it around me) is that after
trying it a couple of times the coolness-factor wears off pretty quickly.

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timdorr
"We're Fighting to Keep This Company Alive..."

That's not a quote I can find. When did they actually say this? The title
should be changed to reflect this.

~~~
minimaxir
The headline is a fair summation of "We aren't trying to kill it, you are
watching us fight for it."

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post_break
Maybe if the super users didn't abuse their privileges they'd keep people
around.

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reustle
Plug.dj easily overtook turntable because it was so much easier to add /
manage your playlists. It uses youtube and soundcloud links instead of direct
upload, which is obviously easier. I think this is too little too late.

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cincinnatus
The shame of this is 1) Turntable is still around? Holy cow 2) Never effing
heard of Piki

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fnbaptiste
Sounded like a cool product as I read this, but alas, foiled. Not available in
Canada.

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AznHisoka
"We aren't trying to kill it, you are watching us fight for it."

Correction: A bunch of dust balls are watching you fight for it. Most of us
don't care. NOW if you were trying to fight cancer, or send a man to Mars on
the other hand...

