Move over, Pandora. Another player is about to enter the online radio game — Grooveshark.
After spending the past eight years battling it out in court with record labels over copyright infringement issues, Grooveshark has a new strategy. The company is gearing up to launch a Pandora-like digital music station dubbed Broadcasts, and pay royalties for every song it plays, as was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
Instead of offering on-demand songs, like its current $9-a-month unlimited service, Broadcasts will have radio stations created by users. The service, expected to roll out in January, will cost just 99 cents a month and be commercial-free. Users will be able to text each other via the app while accessing custom radio stations created by other listeners.
Grooveshark will fork over the same government-mandated royalty rates that Pandora and other digital radio services pay. On-demand services like Spotify, on the other hand, negotiate licenses directly with each individual record label.
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In an email Monday, a Grooveshark spokesperson confirmed plans to launch the new online radio app.
"Unlike Grooveshark.com, which provides one of the most popular on-demand streaming services that directly licenses content from thousands of labels, this new social radio service operates with a single industry-wide license," the spokesperson said. "This comprehensive license ensures that Broadcasts will provide direct revenue for artists and labels … starting on day one."
Broadcasts is expected to be available in the App Store and Google Play. Both Apple and Google have pulled Grooveshark from their app stores in response to copyright complaints, but the company has continued to live on thanks to its Web-based app.
For more, see PCMag's roundup of Pandora tips in the slideshow above.