Spiral Frog: RIP
And so ends the life of another would-be iTunes competitor.
Spiral Frog, a Universal-backed subscription music catastrophe, has apparently called it quits. Though the service was “free” (using an ad-supported model), it still suffered from the five things that pretty much all subscription-based music models share:
- A requirement for recurring activity
- Limited content
- Risk of losing music
- Strict usage controls
- Does not work with iPods
Needless to say, even without a monthly fee I was not impressed with the service.
The only thing truly unique about this one is that it could be argued you get what you pay for. Even then I think it’s a bad deal.
I visited the venture a couple months later when reports began surfacing that they were losing money hand over fist, and seemed to think a pro blogging campaign might save them:
Hmm, yes, good idea. Pummeling your users with ads isn’t working, so let’s get some of those Zune astroturfers to get on the Spiral Frog bandwagon.
Well, now I can pay my final visit (and respects) to Spiral Frog. They shut down Thursday:
A source close to the company told CNET News that SpiralFrog has ceased operations and assets have been surrendered to the company’s senior secured note holders.
Apparently, they went quietly and peacefully. Sadly (for them), I’m sure very few noticed. May they rest in peace.
DON on March 20th, 2009 at 11:42 am
Some people are proclaiming that Spotify will do what Spiral Frog failed in achieving – kill off iTunes! It’s only available in Europe and it’s been getting great press; will it go the way of Spiral Frog? Or will this one actually work, make money by giving away music?.
warren huntley on March 22nd, 2009 at 9:22 pm
THE BEST FREE DOWNLAODS ON THE WEB ,I NEW SOMBODY WOULD KILL IT
Tim Park on March 23rd, 2009 at 10:25 pm
I think the “Rub” in your top five would be it doesn’t work with IPods. I mean T.V. hasn’t worked well for the last 50 plus years. The idea of paying the Artists from advertising dollars will never work!! Mr. Reestman if you had taken some time to discover the site
you may have found some great music, new and old that was available. At the same time you would know the people who created the music were being paid. I don’t think this site was meant to be an ITunes “killer”. Spiral Frog was a good idea that got bad press and was not well promoted. If ITunes is the only game in town we all lose… Competition is good. Thanks to all the employees of Spiral Frog. I discovered Elbow on your site and they are great.
Billy on March 28th, 2009 at 5:17 pm
Perhaps, because of the type of music I listen to, I was not so dissapointed in SprialFrog. I downloaded a lot of classical CDs and I will miss the site. It was easy to use, had good selection in classical and I don’t use an iPod.
Such a shame…
The Songnumbers Team on March 31st, 2009 at 11:38 am
We just added you to my Music News Reader. Keep up the good work. Look forward to reading more from you in the future.
(PS, we just pushed out BETA 2 of OUR site)
Sincerely,
The Songnumbers Team
Jake on April 1st, 2009 at 10:43 pm
SpiralFrog was awesome. I had most of the obscure bands that I listen to. I’m sad that they closed down.
Jim on April 4th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
I found the site to be easy to navigate, easy to d/l from, and had an excellent selection of various music genres. Shame it’s gone, not sure where to d/l from now.
maurice on April 6th, 2009 at 6:07 am
i hope one day spiral frog will be back the music that i got from them its hard to find but i think they will be back
Bryan on April 12th, 2009 at 10:51 am
I put their music on my ipod by removing their copy protection with an old version of tunebite, which is available for FREE!
Martha Carroll on April 13th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
I was so upset when I tried to download some songs yesterday and found that Spiral Frog had shut down. I loved it. I found opera, classical, and oldies I wanted. It was so easy to search and use. Please come back, Spiral Frog!
Scott on April 14th, 2009 at 6:41 am
This author is an arrogant ass. I know lots of people who used SpiralFrog. It was great for me; I listen to all of my music straight from the laptop. I don’t need iTunes. Oh well. I guess it is time to try and find another free and legal music site.
Hel on April 14th, 2009 at 10:55 am
I miss Spiralfrog. It was awesome. I really didn’t care that it didn’t work with an I-Pod. That’s one player our of ???. Spiralfrog played on all our player and computers.Guess that’s why I don’t have an
I-anything.
Annia on April 14th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Ive enjoyed using SpiralFrog and I will indeed miss it. Always was able to find what I wanted.
Shana on April 16th, 2009 at 10:09 am
Sadly, you are right. I used SpiralFrog, but did not notice it was gone until today… The day I would need to “watch” a freaking ad to keep my music playing… now I need to go through and erase about 300 dead songs from my library… yet another inconvenient truth about SpiralFrog.
Jerry on April 23rd, 2009 at 10:27 am
I applaud Spiral Frog and will sadly miss it. I could find both oldies and current songs that were my favorites. It seems like in today’s present society anything that is FREE is knocked off the boards. Thanks, Spiral Frog, for the many hours of listening pleasure that you provided me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Shaft on April 25th, 2009 at 11:53 am
I will miss Spiral Frog immensely. Just about all of the ‘0ldies’ I missed from long ago were available from Spiral Frog. Will sorely miss it (THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES).
Countessavis on April 30th, 2009 at 11:58 pm
That’s harsh! You may not have been impressed, but I and many others were. I will miss spiralfrog.
Keep it real now on May 5th, 2009 at 3:15 am
Spiralfrog, was the best thing that hit the download music scene, I am listening to spiralfrog as I write this comment. Thank You Spiralfrog for all the free music you gave the world,you will be back, don’t change the name or the game, Thanks Again!!!!!!!!!
Bill on May 8th, 2009 at 5:16 am
RIP Spiralfrog
john on May 10th, 2009 at 8:59 am
spiralfrog was great,, what elese is there to say…except whare can i go now … is there any sites like it John
Joe Trainor on May 15th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
What a shame being as I worked with a good number of bands that shared there music with this site and did not want anything in return
just exposure . There were all so many that were showcased at Powermad a networking convention for prog+powermetal who used this site to share there music with the world . Joe Stump ,Lethal,Michael Schenker, Event,Mystic Force, List to long to type. You will be missed spiral frog!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How do I hack the lock off the the tunes and vids I have,that I wont be able to get anywhere else?
saad on June 10th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
dame i was converting all the music that i download and put them in my iPod for FREE
iv downloaded like 150 songs
MM on June 22nd, 2009 at 7:12 pm
Question about old spiral frog music that wasn’t converted yet: Is there anyway to still use it? I keep getting the “please make sure the file has a valid playback license” everytime I try. Need help. I would hate to trash all of the music I got from them. Thanks,
Paula on August 1st, 2009 at 6:23 pm
i have been asking the same thing. How do I unlock all the great music from Spiral Frog? loved the website.
iPhone app reviews on September 23rd, 2009 at 10:28 am
I have always been an iTunes enthusiast. I heard of Spiralfrog when they first launched in 2007. Can not say I have ever used it, but it seems like everyone who commented here loved it. Just shows again, iTunes is king in the music downloading industry.
Al on October 28th, 2009 at 5:31 pm
I loved Spiral Frog…i discoverd all kinds of great music on that site for my TechHouse Collection..then i just converted the files to remove the protection..damn i miss that site.
Giles on November 8th, 2009 at 10:59 pm
Could you let me in on software to rip these files?
Songbird on November 5th, 2009 at 10:34 am
Awwww! What!!! No more spiral frog! Where the heck have I been. Just tried to use it to get some music and found out it was gone. When entering it in the browser Mymojo music or something like that came up and that site wanted a credit card. I am also going to miss spiral frog. I loved alot of neo soul, 70’s soul, and pop tunes on there. Is there another place to get free music like the ones on spiral frog? Ohhhhh! No wonder the songs on my media player would not play when I tried playing them a while back. LOL. Duh, me.
Giles on November 8th, 2009 at 10:57 pm
I have about a decade of music that I downloaded from SpiralFrog. It was music that I had already purchased on vinyl in the 80’s and 90’s. Does anyone know how to remove the DRM stuff around these files? I’d apprecioate any info here. I do know that the DRM might be purchased and re-used/re-posted online but, I dont want to wait for the next decade, again.
Paula on November 9th, 2009 at 9:34 am
Frostwire has some listings for spiralFrog codes. I downloaded them put still can’t get it to work. Any ideas where to go next?