p2pnet - rss feed: Fanning’s Snocap — failing fast
p2pnet news | DRM:- Is Snocap, the struggling DRM company started by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, finally going under?
Looks like, unless someone comes along, buys it and tries to revive it in much the same way the original Napster, killed by the corporate music industry, was dug up and returned zombie-like as a ‘legal’ download service.
However, Napster II is a flop, even though the members of the Big 4 corporate music cartel tried to push it into universities across America.
Now, “Snocap may have started as Napster creator Shawn Fanning and bad boy Jordan Mendelson’s baby, but we’ve heard both Valley hipsters have washed their hands of their failing creation,” says Valleywag, going on:
A tipster reports that Fanning is long gone and focused on his latest startup, Rupture, a social network for videogamers.
Mendelson, too, is working on a new project and is likely to leave Snocap in a few months.
Can it be true?
In a prelude to, “a possible sale of the company, it’s laid off more than half of its employees, reducing to about 26 people its former staff of 57,” says the Wall Street Journal.
“The company said its remaining staff plans to focus its resources on existing partnerships, including deals with News Corp.’s MySpace and Imeem Inc.”
Interestingly, no mention is made of Mashboxx, also based on Fanning’s so-called Snocap verification system.
With former Grokster boss Wayne Rosso behind it, and links to Sony, Mashboxx was to have ‘revolutionised’ the ‘legitimate’ online file sharing business, combining free music sampling with paid downloads.
However, it appears to have vanished into the woodwork.
Meanwhile, according to the WSJ, Snocap said it’s heard from “large companies that are interested in a possible acquisition”.
It’s been trying to persuade musicians it could sell their music on MySpace.
But they’re already doing it by themselves, thanks. So why would they need Snocap?
What of Rupture?
Described by Mashable as an “awesome MySpace clone for the world of WarCraft, it, “connects you with the real people you play with online,” says the front-page blurb. “You can automatically publish your character and guild profiles to the web, share pictures, chat with friends and recruit new people to play with.
And, “We strive to create cool features that you’ll enjoy using,” Rupture promises.
Also See:
Valleywag - Shawn Fanning leaves his Snowcap baby and orphan, October 12, 2007
Wall Street Journal - Music Startup Snocap Cuts More Than Half Its Staff, October 12, 2007
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October 15th, 2007 at 10:12 am
“it’s laid off more than half of its employees”
You have to be stupid to work for a company selling RIAA music because of the boycott and particularly if it is Drmed.
I know you can crack it but frankly what’s the point?
October 15th, 2007 at 1:34 pm
There are some inaccuracies in this article and in the comment above. To clarify, artists can’t sell music directly on MySpace without using SNOCAP’s MyStore. Mashboxx faded into the woodwork long ago, and the p2p-enabling technology that SNOCAP originally developed has not been the focus of the company for awhile. SNOCAP doesn’t just sell “RIAA music”–it’s emphasis has been on the MyStore widgets and the digital registry that backs them. Indie artits, indie labels, and major labels use this system to sell music, and most of it is not DRM’d.