A decade after its creation, Spinrilla, the music discovery website for independent artists, will cease operations immediately.
A federal judge in Georgia ordered that founder Jeffrey Copeland take down the site and pay $50 million USD to a group of record labels – among them, including Sony, Warner, Roc-A-Fella and Atlantic – for copyright infringement.
The ruling brings to a close a six-year-old lawsuit filed by the Recording Industry Association of America, alleging that Spinrilla was host to copyrighted material from artists, which it reportedly continued to leave up for streaming even once alerted of the infringement. There were apparently 4,100 tracks available for consideration in the case.
Launched in 2013, Spinrilla was available via web browser and iOS and Android for users to stream free mixtapes by emerging hip-hop artists. While other platforms like Soundcloud offered the same functionality, Spinrilla was few of its kind exclusively dedicated to hip-hop music. Over the years, it accrued a user base of over 20 million listeners globally.
“Judgment shall be entered in favor of Plaintiffs and against Defendants jointly and severally in the amount of $50,000,000, inclusive of any recoverable costs and attorneys’ fees,” the decision.
Copeland was additionally banned from “operating Spinrilla or any other website, platform or similar projects anywhere in the world,” per the judgment.
Spinrilla has since been updated with a notice announcing its permanent closure.
In other music news, Lil Durk’s new album Almost Healed will drop next week.
