Social Net Imeem Buys Struggling Music Service Snocap
This story was written by Rafat Ali.
As had been rumored for a while, music-based social networking service Imeem has finally bought the assets of trouble digital music services firm Snocap. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This deal bring in content identification technology and a digital registry for Imeem, besides the team. This will help Imeem offer commerce services to labels and artists. Imeem had previously been working with Snocap.
Snocap was founded by *Napster* founder Shawn Fanning, and had received about $10 million in funding from Morgenthaler Ventures, WaldenVC and other angels. The company laid off 60 percent of staff last October. It had changed tracks a few times: started an an music ID/registry for P2P distribution, and when the industry didn't take off, move to a widget-based model to sell music through social networking sites and blogs. Meanwhile, Fanning has moved on, as he usually does after stirring the pot, and has launched Rupture, a virtual social community for online gamers.
Snocap Ali Aydar is joining Imeem as its VP of operations, while CEO Rusty Rueff is moving on.
By Rafat Ali