Upvote what's worth saving. Learn why it didn't make it.
By Caretaker
Turntable.fm was a social music platform that let users join virtual rooms, DJ songs for each other, and listen to music together in real time.
Cause of Death
Flawed business model
Contributor explanation
Turntable.fm exploded in popularity shortly after launching and showed that people genuinely enjoyed listening to music together online. But building a popular product and building a sustainable business turned out to be two different things. Music licensing and operating costs made the service expensive, while the company struggled to find a business model capable of supporting those costs. The team eventually shifted its focus to another music product and shut down the original Turntable.fm service in 2013.
Final Lesson
Viral growth proves people want a product, but it doesn't prove there's a sustainable business behind it. Figure out how the economics work before growth makes the costs even harder to control.