Imeem reboots without Sequoia in new $6M round

Imeem reboots without Sequoia in new $6M round

It’s been a year since Sequoia Capital’s “R.I.P. Good Times” presentation to the firm’s portfolio companies. One of Sequoia’s more high-profile startups at the time was Imeem, a site that claimed to be the first to allow free, legal music sharing and listening.

The rumor on… Continue Reading

Live music: Imeem gets better licensing deal from Warner

Live music: Imeem gets better licensing deal from Warner

Music startups have had trouble making money, partly because of high licensing fees they pay to record labels. But Imeem, a popular streaming music service had so many fees to pay that it was having trouble staying in business. Now, though, past investor Warner Music… Continue Reading

Roundup: 18 Android phones coming this year, MySpace hoping for innovation, and more

Roundup: 18 Android phones coming this year, MySpace hoping for innovation, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Google: Expect 18 Android phones by the end of the year — That number could be as high as 20, says Andy Rubin, senior director for mobile platforms.

News Corp. and MySpace execs say MySpace needs to innovate — During an interview at the All… Continue Reading

Warner Music writes off $33M in music startups Imeem, Lala

Warner Music writes off $33M in music startups Imeem, Lala

When it comes to music startups of my generation, they have yet to bring in serious revenue. And to make matters worse, the ones that stream music have to pay record labels a hefty licensing fee. Major record label Warner Music Group may be one… Continue Reading

Music startup imeem making money, not dying unless the labels kill it

Music startup imeem making money, not dying unless the labels kill it

Sure, the music industry — including music startups — are having trouble coming up with significant online music business models, but recent rumors circulating about imeem’s money problems appear to be exaggerated. The San Francisco company, which lets users create and share streaming song playlists,… Continue Reading

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Roundup: Brin backs Parkinson’s study, iPhone gets shakable ads, and more

Google co-founder backs major Parkinson’s study –  Sergey Brin says he plans to contribute money and DNA to a study run by his wife Anne Wojcicki’s startup 23andMe.

Dockers introduces shakable iPhone ad — Users can shake their iPhones to make urban street dancer Dufon perform his moves…. Continue Reading

My music to my ears: Imeem’s Android app accesses your music in the cloud

My music to my ears: Imeem’s Android app accesses your music in the cloud

Love it or hate it, all of your digital information is moving to the cloud. And your music is no different. While music social network Imeem has let you upload your own music to its servers for a while, today it’s offering a powerful new… Continue Reading

Roundup: Another record for cleantech, economy contracting, music news and more

Roundup: Another record for cleantech, economy contracting, music news and more

Here’s the latest action:

Cleantech has another record quarter — A total of $1.6 billion went into cleantech during the most recent quarter. However, much of the money came in a few massive later-stage rounds, so the sector shouldn’t breathe easy in the face of recession.

US economy… Continue Reading

Imeem makes cuts, may be looking to sell

Imeem makes cuts, may be looking to sell

Streaming music company imeem has hired boutique investment bank Montgomery and Co. to help it sell, and it has laid off 25 percent of its 80 person staff, PaidContent is reporting. San Francisco-based imeem has confirmed that it has cut 20 positions but isn’t commenting… Continue Reading

Imeem launches music application for Android and the G1 phone

Imeem launches music application for Android and the G1 phone

The imeem music-sharing service is launching its first mobile application today — for the new Android-powered G1 phone that is itself launching on the T-Mobile network this Wednesday. So there are all sorts of interesting “firsts” here. But first, about the app itself.

Imeem is taking… Continue Reading

Mufin music recommendations: Half-baked or just right?

Mufin music recommendations: Half-baked or just right?

Online music recommendation engines are nothing new. Pandora is one of the most high profile, but services that do other things such as Last.fm, Imeem and now even iTunes, all offer this functionality in some capacity. Mufin hopes to stand out by doing things a… Continue Reading

Imeem revamps its site for a more cohesive online music experience

Imeem revamps its site for a more cohesive online music experience

Before MySpace Music even existed, online social music service imeem had a deal with all the major labels and many of the smaller ones to stream their music for free over the Internet. The problem, is that the music was scattered all over the place,… Continue Reading

Could a digital music royalty price hike force iTunes into subscriptions?

Could a digital music royalty price hike force iTunes into subscriptions?

There’s some talk today that if the National Music Publishers’ Association manages to increase the royalty rates for music bought from online music stores, Apple iTunes could shut its doors. That won’t happen. But it could force iTunes to change its business model.

The Copyright Royalty… Continue Reading

TrueAnthem raises $2 million to pollute music with pre-song ads

TrueAnthem raises $2 million to pollute music with pre-song ads

The concept of ad-supported music ranges from relatively sensible to outright dumb.

Last.fm’s recently announced “smart ads,” which respond dynamically to the beat of the music being played, are relatively sensible. In-music ads, which consist of sponsored announcements that play before the song, are outright dumb…. Continue Reading

ComScore’s June US numbers: Facebook still gaining on MySpace while blog platforms, news aggregators, niche social networks also grow

ComScore’s June US numbers: Facebook still gaining on MySpace while blog platforms, news aggregators, niche social networks also grow


Facebook gained nearly two million new US users from May to June of this year, while MySpace lost about a million, according to the latest data from comScore. MySpace is still nearly twice the size, though, at 72.8 million national users versus Facebook’s 37.4 million…. Continue Reading

Roundup: YouTube making money now? Managers leaving Bebo, and more

Roundup: YouTube making money now? Managers leaving Bebo, and more

As YouTube grows, some estimate it’s making up to $200 million this year — The revenue number comes from a couple estimates reviewed by Erick Schonfeld at Techcrunch, where he looks at how the site’s increasing dominance (see comScore graphs, below) may translate to money. Schonfeld… Continue Reading

Roundup: Tidbits on Jangl’s demise, Virgin considers Helio hookup, VCs looking overseas, and more

Roundup: Tidbits on Jangl’s demise, Virgin considers Helio hookup, VCs looking overseas, and more

updated

The back-story on Jangl’s slow death — Yesterday, we reported on Jangl’s asset sale process. A tipster tells us that Seattle-based WhitePages had offered to buy Internet phone company Jangl for $20 million, but then kept the company in diligence for more than a month and… Continue Reading

Roundup: AMD falls, Sequoia expands, and more

Roundup: AMD falls, Sequoia expands, and more

Here’s the latest action:

Advanced Micro Devices is in a world of hurt — The Sunnyvale, Calif. chip company lost $358 million on revenues of $1.5 billion in the quarter. It cited a tough outlook for the computer market, but it is clearly hurting from Intel’s… Continue Reading

Imeem acquires Snocap

Imeem acquires Snocap

Imeem, the popular social network for music sharing, has acquired music site Snocap, which lets bands set their own licensing terms for music downloads.

The deal was expected; we covered early reports here.

Imeem had already partnered with Snocap, we reported last year, to pay a share… Continue Reading

Roundup: MySpace in deals with labels, Tudou raises $53M, and more

Roundup: MySpace in deals with labels, Tudou raises $53M, and more

MySpace nearing deals with music labels — Before long, MySpace may be offering streaming music and ad-supported downloads from Sony BMG and Warner Music Group, according to a report from the NY Post. A deal with the two music giants might challenge the dominance of Imeem,… Continue Reading