EMI, one of the largest record labels in the world, is suing streaming music service Grooveshark over a discrepancy in royalty payments.
Grooveshark is different from other prominent streaming music services like Spotify, MOG and Rdio because it doesn’t have broad licensing agreements to play the majority of its music. It depends on its users to upload music that can be enjoyed by the community. If a user uploads a file that he or she doesn’t own and it gets a DMCA complaint, Grooveshark takes the file down.
The record label is accusing Grooveshark of not paying any royalties since entering into a streaming music licensing agreement in 2009, according to a Reuters report. This means that all four of the major music companies are now suing Grooveshark for one reason or another — making the music startup’s future look mighty bleak.