Seeqpod Sinks – Another one bites the dust

Earlier this year, when I ventured off to LA for the Econ Music Conference, the first business card that I received was from a gentleman by the name of Caleb Pate. Very cool dude, he was the Music/Media Strategist for a company called Seeqpod. Execs from 3Jane and other companies were more than familiar with Seeqpod – it was very new to me. So after chatting with Caleb for a while I took a look at their site…..and thought “wow, niffty!” One site that can bring all the data on the internet (videos, reviews, photos, etc) to one flash player on any artist I like! Cool!

Kasian Franks, Raf Podowski, and Shekhar Lodha founded SeeqPod back in 2005 and in less than 2 years, managed to create a unique, easy-to-use search and discovery engines that has appealed to millions.

The team evolved SeeqPod from a technological breakthrough among genomic biologists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory to the consumer ‘Playable Search’ site it has become today.

In order to sort the data, the scientists created a mathematical algorithm to link their deeply buried, disconnected bits of electronic information. The algorithm was coded to make smart associations and connections, not unlike the way the human mind mimics intelligent, useful connections in everyday life. Immediately, the team suspected that their new algorithm could be used to search and discover specialized, hard-to-find content online.

SeeqPod, the first search and discover engine focused exclusively on precise, relevant playable results, was realized.

Caleb told me that the company “was built with the social networking, mobile generation in mind, offering people an array of easy to use tools to playlist, share, embed, and purchase results, as well as iPhone and iPod Touch compatibility.”

He also reinforced the company’s key message: “to reflect a passion for the human desire to search and discover, and the belief that everything on the Web is going to be playable.” Within a month after I was introduced to Seeqpod, I heard that the major record labels, Warner and EMI had started litigation proceedings against Seeqpod!

Recently, Seeqpod, like so many others before it was forced to file for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection.

Note well that Seeqpod DOES NOT HOST content, rather it SEARCHES AND INDEXES MUSIC FROM LEGAL SOURCES (and mp3 blogs.) According to sources at Hypebot, the labels pursued SeeqPod so aggressively that companies that only utilized Seeqpod’s API were also attacked.
Songbeat was silenced and Streamzy is for sale on eBay with a starting bid of just $1000.

It seems as if Seeqpod came under fire because it subscribed to the theory of making music easily accessible to consumers. Most search engines including Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft all easily find the same mp3’s and songfiles that SeeqpPd indexes and yet they have not filed for bankruptcy…..I wonder why?

Really now! What’s the whole point of this tactic by majors? Will control last forever?
Another perfect example of how majors missed out on a golden opportunity to build a relationship with technological innovators.