Grooveshark: We're not planning on developing for Windows Phone 7

By last updated

Although we've heard this before from companies and things can change rapidly, at least according to one community manager at Grooveshark, that company won't be making a dedicated Windows Phone app despite already having ones for Android, iPhone (jailbroken), Blackberry and even webOS. In an email back and forth between a customer and Jessica, a community manager at the company the info was revealed:

Anonymous : "I was wondering if, in the near future, you would develop an application for users of Windows Phone 7. You are on all other platforms except ours."Grooveshark response (Jessica - Community Manager) : "Hey E *****, Thanks for Taking the time to write us. Unfortunately, Grooveshark is not planning on Developing for Windows Phone 7. We're very sorry for the inconvenience and confusion. Please let us know if You have Any further Top questions. "

Of course, reps can be wrong for companies (although Grooveshark is very small, so less likely) and they could change their minds at any point. Still, we're none to happy with that response. Even though we have a working HTML5 version of their site now, having a dedicated app would certainly be more preferential. Hopefully they'll change their minds in the future.

via: MonWindowsPhone

Daniel Rubino
Daniel Rubino

Daniel Rubino is the Executive Editor of Windows Central, head reviewer, podcast co-host, and analyst. He has been covering Microsoft here since 2007, back when this site was called WMExperts (and later Windows Phone Central). His interests include Windows, Microsoft Surface, laptops, next-gen computing, and arguing with people on the internet.
79 Comments
  • Noooooooo >=(
  • Simple don't use there service same way we should not use Pandora there is slacker and last fm Spotify and Zune so duck em
  • Dear Grooveshark, We currently have no intention of using your crap service. Signed,
    WP7 Users
  • +1
  • Their service maybe clunky now but it is still better than Spotify.
  • Dear in what planet Grooveshark is better?? Ohhh yes in the I'm not paying one, because not in quality not in quantity Is better than Spotify or Zune
  • Nicely said. :-)
  • What's Grooveshark? There are so many services out there just to stick to one.
  • Switch to products from companies who give a @$%.  Siimple as that.  They don't want to develop?  Thats fine.  On a service such as Grooveshark where there is a plethora of competition I couldn't care less. 
    When the platform has 20% or more marketshare they will scramble, but they will have lost out on any potential customers/users as everybody will have all found replacements.
    This may also have to do with MS maybe not granting them certification depending on how they gain rights to their songs.   I remember a few stories about them being sued by big record labels.
  • IE9 advertises Grooveshark as a pinnable site. I am surprised they are not making Windows Phone an app for the advertising.
  • Grooveshark Schmooveshark
  • Exactly.
  • I could give 2 $hits less about Grooveshark or Pandora...I say F 'em!!! I got Zune and Slacker...thats all I need.
  • And last.fm
  • more idiotic developers refusing to support our wonderful platform. seriously how hard can it be to develop an app or even port it? this is discrimination, similar to a restaurant refusing to deny service to Latinos or African Americans.  middle finger to zynga, pandora, voxer and now grooveshark. ill just stick with my zune pass, words by post, wordament,tango,skype (when released), slacker, last.fm and spotify.
  • Racism and racial discrimination are serious issues that actually affect people lives, so comparing this to racial discrimination is very silly. Grooveshark and the others will come around if Windows Phone sales increase.
  • This can affect lives too as sales might be held down of someone wants grooveshark
  • Don't be so ignorant. It's tainting the comments section. OT: I'm finding more and more music on Zune lately. They are definitely stepping it up. I can do without Grooveshark thanks.
  • You're the ignorant one if you can't see the connection
  • Can't see a connection between CHOOSING WP7 and BEING BORN latino?
     
    I see none at all...
  • I truly hope these comments comparing meaningless tech to real life issues are in fact jokes.....it ain't that serious
  • Oh he is serious, that's what sad about it. And I thought his usual silly comments couldn't shock me anymore.
  • I'm angry too, but man this is no way racism!!!
  • What's Grooveshark? Never used it, guess I never will either.
  • Who cares...
  • don't forget about 8tracks!! we got by far the nicest 8tracks app of any platform. everyone I show it to loves it then gets disappointed seeing the official iphone version. hehe
  • Zune, Slacker, LastFM, Spotify, and a host of others are supporting WP7.5. When the Windows 8/WP8/XBox ecosystem is unveiled in full in the fall, they will all get on board. We don't need Pandora, grooveshark, or the others that don't realize the juggernaut that is coming. Skydrive and its ability to connect to your home pc and create your own private cloud with the ability to have contracts with other apps that can access your storage anywhere and you have an Apple and Google squasher. They know they can't compete with the depth and breadth of services Microsoft can offer and will be running scared in the fall. Its just a matter of time.
  • What's the hell is grooveshark any damn way. Don't don't even deserve to be talked about.
  • Agreed.
  • I'm just curious as to why so many companies are saying no to developing for WP? Its getting somewhat frustrating, especially when you have been using them on other devices (previous iPhone owner, still has an iPod. Not mention the desktop versions)
  • I would also like to know
  • Less than 2% market share might have something to do with it. Try not to take it personally. It's business. If WP gains traction you can be assured that all these companies will jump on board. There are people out there that think Microsoft as a whole is irrelevant. Only the numbers will get them to change their minds.
  • To put it simply, Windows Phone is still the underdog right now
  • This will change when WIN8/WP8 come out. It's the new desktop/mobile combo and they better be ready,
  • Oh don't mistake my question as taking it personally. I do wish WP had the likes of Pandora, Words With Friends and some others. But they haven't been deal breakers. Its just the answers as to why they won't develop tend to be vague. I realize its most likely cause of low adoption rate. But I just thought there would be some desire to be a part of something with promise. I know promise doesn't necessarily translate to profits.
  • All of these 'company X isn't doing a WP app' posts are missing the real question.  For future apps, the real question is- are they doing a Win 8 app?  Because having millions of new users assured of right out of the gate immediately - they will certainly be much more motivated. And since we know how much easier it'll be to do for both, that's how WP will get real buy-in from these established but small web 2.0 companies.  (Without having MS have to pay or dev the app for them)
  • What is so great about grooveshark? I don't use music streaming too begin with and now will NEVER use any grooveshark site or app. I want nothing too do with them and I hope our awesome OS never lets a grooveshark app disgrace our marketplace.
  • You can listen to any specific song you want and make playlists and what not. Not that I really care that much, but it is a slap in the face that they aren't even considering WP7 when webOS had it.
  • That's exactly what Spotify does. I hate how the internet culture fully supports multiple versions of the same damn thing. It's tiresome
  • Like phone operating systems?
  • That's not the same because of how unique they are. Its the patent systems fault really. They used to be a lot stricter.
  • Why not? The more options, the better. Since when have options become.a bad thing?
  • I'd never heard of Grooveshark. I use one of the great third party Pandora apps. People need to be more supportive of third party apps.
  • Hey guys, BB user here. We are used to hearing crap like this, but rest assured there isn't a developer on the face of the earth (that has more than a pea brain) that will not develp for windows 8.
    I would just jot these names down and when their apps come out on windows 8 write to them and say sorry I see you have a new windows 8 app, but I won't be using it...
  • ... and so I have started using Last.fm (and just today so did my wife).  I can beam Last.fm to my stereo, stream to my PC, and Last.fm is on my Xbox which sounds nice on the home theater.
    Grooveshark ... eh.
  • Um, who needs an app? Why not just use http://html5.grooveshark.com/ and pin it to the Start screen? Works fine in IE9 in Mango. Sure an app might be a bit more "Metro" and take advantage of some of the phone's UI better than a mobile site, but it gets the job done. But I do agree that an embargo against such shortsighed service providers might send a message that WP7 cannot be ignored.
  • Grooveshark is also currently free to use, which is alarming as this will eventually be shutdown with all the legal issues they're having already. Can't believe it's been around this long. That being said the html5 interface is nice
  • Umm, can we say "Zune"? I know there is speculation regarding the long-term sustainability of it, but I believe that as long as there is a Windows Phone platform, Microsoft will have a music service that will fulfill my needs, and be better integrated into the device than third-party apps. Plus, usually paid services are well-worth the price, oftentimes manyfold.
  • After a wave of official apps in the first year, it seems like the flow of official major apps has slowed to a trickle. The indie developer scene is very active but you don't see Windows Phone mentioned when you see an app advertised on TV.
  • True. Ironically it slowed down with Mango when many users were convinced more APIs would bring more apps.
    The disc last year was "wait for Mango", now it's "wait for Windows 8".
  • Has someone tried "musicuo" in WP7?? I think is 100% HTML5 and in my computer works just as well as grooveshark. I don't have a WP7 to try it out.
  • I use Zune, which is 100% legal unlike Grooveshark.
  • They are about to become totally irrelevant anyway, no big loss. http://www.neowin.net/news/danish-isps-to-begin-blocking-grooveshark
  • Never heard of 'em, but screw 'em.
  • I will now proceed to discontinue using your web services...
  • Gosh, all these hurt feelings! Like little kids being told they're just not big enough yet to do adult stuff. "Ok dad, then I'll never let YOU use MY car!" Calm down, people! We should be much more concerned about the zillion ways our own Microsoft is ignoring our needs and wishes to develop WP.
  • And your like the know it all down the street when you grow up, telling you what should and shouldn't do, and what you should think and shouldn't think. Thanks for your opinion, BUT NO THANKS.
  • Sorry if I expressed myself unclearly. My point was that we should first put our energy into having MS make WP a fully working and widely appealing OS, the rest will take care of itself. To just blame third party developers is starting from the wrong end.
  • "Ignoring our needs and developing WP"? I presume you've heard of Apollo and Windows 8, right? As for Grooveshark - never heard of them and don't need them. Any company to turn around and say they have zero plans for a WP app is plain short sighted. WP market share increase is inevitable.
  • I think I understand what you're saying, and agree with you. Develpers will start to intensify their focus on WP7 as soon as it starts grabbing headlines and marketshares. For now, the best we can do is encourage Microsoft to continue building (and promoting) a mature and solid platform.
  • Yep, bang on. :) Just to elaborate... Every dev will want their app released on WP once the platform has reached its potential stake in the market. And, that's just a matter of time until it happens.
  • Who are these dev ?
  • i'll ignore it and see what microsoft going to do after hearing some rumors about new music service
  • Not to go off topic, but I wish they would get some kind of TV subscription also covering all the networks. I know the networks keep saying they don't want to go that route, but I'm DVRing it anyhow? I'll give you $8-$10 a month to get access to the most recently aired episodes THAT IM ALREADY GETTING FOR FREE.
  • Patience grasshoppers...
    Sony had Blu Ray, Xbox had Halo and the Windows Phone has Windows 8. They have built it (nearly) and they will come the money hungry buggers that they are.
     
  • Hey Daniel what about digitally imported? On ther site it says in works for a wp7app can u look into that please
  • In a word. Lazy.
  • I think they will look back in a year and see this a strategic blunder. When the Win 8/WinPhone/Tablet ecosystem is in the Marketplace they will find it difficult to penetrate when Zune and the other services already have an entren base. Too many Developers are in thrall to iOS and Android to see the MS juggernaut coming. Anyone who has used Windows 7 on their PC knows that MS is doing it right and WinPhone is further evidence. Once the Metro UI is on your PC and on your phone its going to be on your Tablet too and Grooveshark will be headed for the dustbin as it will have no further growth potential at that point.
  • Maybe that's the problem....they dont have any faith that there will be a MS juggernaut. They haven't exactly set fire with marketing WP7 to the point where, outside of Nokia, they've seemed apathetic.
  • Grooveshark can go fck themselves, I'll make sure no one I know will support this pathetic excuse for a company
  • Groovesh#t!
  • Who are they?? So, who cares ??? Only speaking about them is waste time.
  • lazy , hardhead, devs
    Where is that article that show how much MORE monye WP dev make then all other OS dev cause of the small market and app attention!!well i guess they dont like making $$ and lossing 2 dayz of porting the app over with MS easy port tools...
    WE DONT WANT YOU ANY WAYS !!!!!
  • I'd never heard of grooveshark, or even knew what it was until I read the comments, felt like a noob, lol. But it looks like we all pretty much agree. It's not really needed.
  • Looks like Grooveshark may become irrelivent soon:  http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/21/2814569/denmark-isp-3-grooveshark-injunction-rettighedsalliancen
  • http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57353515-93/grooveshark-now-feels-lawsuit-wrath-of-all-major-music-labels/
    Grooveshark is a scam anyway.
  • Jaja karma
  • just start using the html5 site all the time and they'll see on their server logs user traffic coming from wp7 devices and if it gets large enough maybe they'll develop an app? ;) xbox live music will be a go by this summer anyways, so who really cares :)
  •  
    Can't wait for Grooveshark to hit the Windows Phone Marketplace? Then download the WP7 app here:http://www.jeremiahisaacson.com/Grooveshark.xap
    To install, side load the .xap file. Instructions here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Txv6ldiNqo
    Enjoy!