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Soundbreak.com, which develops music Web sites, has shut down operations, according to Acacia Research, an incubator that invested nearly $10 million in Soundbreak.
“Soundbreak CEO Paul Ryan said in a statement that the company was unable to raise additional capital. He added that Soundbreak will return remaining capital to shareholders.
“In March of 2000, the company raised $19 million in its Series C from investment banks, private equity funds, and individuals.”
The struggling company had already pinkslipped half of its 50 employees earlier this month, according to Internet Stock Review Online.
In January 2000, Soundbreak announced their impending launch (see RAIN coverage here) and the appointment of radio and MTV veteran Mark Goodman as VP/Music Programming. In August the company made news again when they broke from the pack of online music sites in arbitration with the record industry to determine a fair payment structure for streaming music, and set up their own deal with the RIAA (RAIN coverage here).
At that time, then-CEO Lisa Crane explained that cutting the deal with the record industry was the right move to make, in order to progress with their business plans. The company had hoped to make music available for download, and expand into other music-related e-commerce opportunities that would require record label cooperation.
-Ian.