imeem
The business, the turning points, and the decisions behind them.
Some sections are still being researched2 / 4
Sections to complete：02 · 05
01 / WHAT IT BUILT
What the company did
imeem was a San Francisco social-music service founded in 2003 by Dalton Caldwell and Jan Jannink. It pioneered the free, ad-supported model for online music: consumers could legally upload, stream and share music and playlists at no charge, and it created the web's first embeddable music and video playlists. In 2007 it became the first online music site to secure licenses from all four major US labels. It reached about 16 million monthly users and raised over $25 million.
02 / FAILURE REASONS
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
03 / EVENT HISTORY
Events in the structured record
- Founded
imeem was founded in 2003 by Dalton Caldwell (formerly of VA Linux) and Jan Jannink (formerly of Napster) as a social media site for streaming, uploading and sharing music.
- All-major-label licenses
imeem became the first online music site to secure licenses from all four major US labels for free streaming and sharing.
- Acquired by MySpace Music
On December 8, 2009, imeem was bought by MySpace Music in a firesale for less than $1 million after copyright lawsuits and mounting operating costs exhausted its funding.
04 / CONTEMPORARY REBUILD ASSESSMENT
Difficulty of rebuilding this project today
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.
Overall assessment: Not completed
05 / CAUSAL CHAIN / AFTERMATH
Material for this section is being gathered and checked. It will appear here once ready.