Grooveshark boasts a very robust library, with music submitted by users and independent artist. The music service is free to access on the web, but Grooveshark offers a membership that allows streaming on mobile platforms for a monthly fee. Despite its massive library, Grooveshark has been criticized for its rather unorganized directory. Duplicate listings of one song is common. The interface of the music player is relatively simple however, and includes a playlist manager.
Founded in 2006 by two students from the University of Florida, Grooveshark began with a mission to provide a new digital music platform that attempted to bridge the artist and listener together. The mission later shifted to providing Grooveshark listeners with a wide selection of music quickly and without advertisements or restrictions. With only 80 employees on the development team, Grooveshark is a relatively large project in comparison to the number of people that run it.
Sam Tarantino, CEO of Grooveshark, has expressed an interest in pushing Grooveshark closer towards artist development. Tarantino remarked that Grooveshark's focus would be directed at new artists seeking a platform to share their music. Grooveshark has already taken steps towards this future, as it allows listeners to provide feedback on songs from emerging artists.
As a free music-streaming service, Grooveshark has endured a number of lawsuits in regards to intellectual property rights. Under the site's terms of service, Grooveshark requires users to indemnify the service if any financial losses are to occur because of a violation to copyrights. Therefore, Grooveshark remains a legal service. Despite this, the Grooveshark mobile application has been pulled down by some cellphone providers.