Skip to main content

MySpace Kills Off Imeem API Without Warning Developers


It's only been a few hours since MySpace finally completed and acknowledged its acquisition of imeem. MySpace has now shuttered the streaming music service, which doesn't come as much of a surprise. But in its haste, MySpace has also pulled the rug out from under any developers tapping into the imeem API, without bothering to give them any warning at all.

One of the biggest apps affected is twt.fm, a mashup between the Twitter and imeem APIs that lets users easily tweet out links to their favorite songs. The app has become quite popular, driving over 1.5 million users to start following the official twt.fm Twitter account. Developer Lee Martin, who built twt.fm, has written an SOS blog post about the change. From Martin's post:



It's only fitting that the day after I speak on a panel regarding the creation & usage of APIs and their importance to music innovation, that MySpace shows up to pull one of the best API platforms out from developers' feet without warning.



It’s only been a few hours since MySpace finally completed and acknowledged its acquisition of imeem. MySpace has now shuttered the streaming music service, which doesn’t come as much of a surprise. But in its haste, MySpace has also pulled the rug out from under any developers tapping into the imeem API, without bothering to give them any warning at all.


One of the biggest apps affected is twt.fm, a mashup between the Twitter and imeem APIs that lets users easily tweet out links to their favorite songs. The app has become quite popular, driving over 1.5 million users to start following the official twt.fm Twitter account. Developer Lee Martin, who built twt.fm, has written an SOS blog post about the change. From Martin’s post:


It’s only fitting that the day after I speak on a panel regarding the creation & usage of APIs and their importance to music innovation, that MySpace shows up to pull one of the best API platforms out from developers’ feet without warning. I created a Twitter/Music app called twt.fm (http://twt.fm) that mashed up the Imeem API with Twitter’s API to allow for music sharing via short links attached to tweets. While it wasn’t the most trafficked of services, I do believe it added a certain value to the Twitter experience and given @twtfm’s 1.5 million followers, I’d like to think others feel the same.


If this is MySpace’s idea of how to run a successful music tech company, they have truly lost their way. Imeem was leagues ahead of their competition (MySpace, iLike, and Lala) in terms of technology and openness. They represented the music business of the future. Now they are a forced hyperlink to a cold, un-innovative, MySpace landing page (http://myspace.com/imeem) making false promises and giving no guidance or help for the developer community they just destroyed.







Lee is understandably upset, and I suspect plenty of other developers will have similar complaints. But we’re hearing that the label deals imeem had negotiated have expired, so MySpace may not have had many other options. The death of the API is also related to the way imeem was set up — when imeem proper goes down, so does the API. Given that all of imeem now redirects to MySpace, that would explain why the API is dead.


All of that said, there’s no reason MySpace couldn’t have given developers some sort of warning. Some of these developers rely on these APIs for their businesses, and are now having to fix their services on the fly.


Crunch Network: CrunchBase the free database of technology companies, people, and investors












Comments

Popular posts from this blog

How to find ideas to post new article in your blog

How to find ideas to post new article in your blog    阅读原文»   It is true that sometimes being a blogger may face situations where I would personally like to call it your brain juices got dried up as you have pretty much ran out of topic to blog and you are in crisis as your readers are anxiously waiting for your new posts but you are unable to give in. That’s when you will probably come with excuses like I just posted last week although that post was more directly towards the newbies who stop themselves from making money but it’s still pretty much the same even though you consider yourself not a newbie. The fact is that ideas are everywhere and I mean everywhere if you know where to find it and know how to leverage it. You may be surprised that sometimes these ideas are just right in front of you but you are not observant enough to convert these ideas and turn it into your blog post. Today I will share some tips on where to get these ideas and...

Lindsay Lohan Breakup Confirmed by Lohan, Locksmith, Police [Gossip Roundup]

Farewell, last season's Suri Cruise fashions. Goodbye, Amy Winehouse's bathing suit. Adieu, humanoid version of Lauren Conrad. And so long, LiLo and SamRon's fairytale romance. Lindsay Lohan confirmed her split with Samantha Ronson and insisted the decision was part of a very healthy and mature effort to " focus on myself ." Upon hearing this, Ronson changed her locks and discussed a restraining order with police, so confident was she in Lohan's ability to turn productively inward. Lohan promptly had a run-in with the police . Who would have imagined such a messy breakup for this model relationship? Courtney Love's lawyer, on her client's drug-fueled plunge into broke-ness: ""Courtney noticed the money was gone when there wasn't any left." Deadpan gallows humor: the only possible response to having Courtney Love as a client. (Besides asking for a hefty retainer.) [ P6 ] Before Lauren Conrad's contract expired in March, MTV...

New Theme: Chteau

New Theme: Chteau    阅读原文» Today we are introducing an elegantly designed and typographically pleasing theme, Chteau . The Chteau Theme Designed by Ignacio Ricci , Chteau has been crafted with close attention to detail and typography. Its beautiful, minimalist look allows you to make your content the focal point of your blog. Aside from a brilliant design, this theme offers many cool features that help you to personalize your blog. There are two color schemes, three layout options, custom accent color, Custom Header Image , Custom Background, six widget areas, and three post formats ― Aside, Gallery and Image. It's loaded with options that make the theme flexible enough to fit a variety of sites. Read all about Chteau's features on the Theme Showcase . Announcing Support for OAuth2 and New Developer Resources    阅读原文» We love developers and the applications they build to help extend WordPress.com in new and meaningful ways. To continue provid...