Download Squad

Sonific, the Web based music distribution system that brought you SongSpots, is set to close on May 1. Sonific worked by allowing users to embed 'SongSpots' in Web sites, individual flash widgets that play individual songs on demand. The service targeted social media sites and bloggers who could augment their sites with tracks without additional software or servers.

In a statement on the Sonific Web site, founder Gerd Leonhard, said that the economics of the music industry made it impossible for Sonific to continue with its current business model. Leonhard pointed to the attitude of major labels as one of the key issues in developing the service, noting that the Majors would often make unreasonable demands to license their music, 'we have routinely faced demands for very large cash advances and fixed per-stream minimum payments, pressure to give them 'free' company equity, and requirements of utterly bizarre usage restrictions.'

According to Leonhard the site had around 80,000 registered users and had managed to aggregate over 200,000 songs from independent labels and music aggregators, but had found it difficult in the current business environment to carve out a realistic business model for the service.

According to Leonhard's statement 'the bottom line is that this industry is certifiably dysfunctional and that we do not see a plausible path to take at this time. We neither want to engage in so-called copyright infringement nor do we have millions of dollars available to buy our way in when it is abundantly clear that doing business under the existing rules of the major labels will simply amount to economic suicide.