This Is My Jam, a music site that allows users to share only one song at a time, will shut down after launching just four short years ago.
Founders Matt Ogle and Han Donovan announced on Sunday they will no longer run the site on their blog; however, the site will continue to live on.
In its current format, users select one track as their "jam," the song they play nonstop, personalize it and share with friends. Users can also listen to their friend's jams and follow others, which gives music lovers the opportunity to discovery new tracks and artists.
Although Ogle and Donovan could no longer keep their project going, users will still be able to preserve and celebrate their favorite songs since the site will now switch to a read-only archive in September.
Because This Is My Jam will be a read-only site, users will no longer be able to make posts, but a new archive will allow them to still explore and listen to jams, and all their profile data, such as their jams, will be exported into the new text format. This means users can see all posts (going as far back as when the site first opened), will be able to play these songs (as long as the link still works) and export their own jams as Spotify playlists.
"Think of it as the best record collection you've ever walked through," the founders write, "curated by some of the best tastemakers we know (aka you!)."
Ogle and Donovan revealed they will put as much open source code on Github as they can for developers who want to play around.
The founders cite strict copyrights for embedded audio as one of the reasons why they will shut down the site, especially since the site inter-operates with YouTube, SoundCloud, The Hype Machine, Facebook and Twitter — just to name a few.
Since the site first launched in 2011, the music landscape has shifted, as music platforms have moved from the Web to apps, and more sophisticated licensing have presented yet another roadblock.
The founders have also taken on new jobs, Ogle joining the Spotify team, whereas Donovan will service as the Product Design Lead at Drip.
Of course, with new roles at their respected companies, it was only a matter of time before keeping up with the site and its challenges became too much to handle.
While users will still be able to access their favorite songs and likes, they can try out the mobile app Cymbal, an Instagram for music that allows users to post one song at a time.
Via: The Guardian
