In September 2009, Grooveshark registered its one millionth unique user.
A year later, the Gainesville-based music streaming website jumped to five million users.
On May 9, people around the globe watched as Grooveshark climbed to its greatest heights yet via a Ustream countdown. At about 5 p.m. that day, the website had reached more than 10 million users.
Founders Sam Tarantino, Josh Greenberg and Andres Barreto launched Grooveshark in 2007 as undergraduates at UF. The website is an on-demand music service, operating like a digital jukebox where users can search any song they feel like listening to and simply play it. Signing up for an account is free.
As proven by the numbers, the website is expanding, and with greater success comes more recognition in the press. Time magazine named Grooveshark one of the 50 best websites of 2010.
"The Time accolade was really awesome, and I think the big benefit of things in [larger publications] is that it gets the name out to a demographic that otherwise might not hear about it," spokesman Ben Westermann-Clark said.
Grooveshark's main demographic lies in teenagers and college-aged students in their early 20s. Another contributing aspect to Grooveshark's big numbers is its presence outside the United States, specifically in Canada and South America.
"Most of these places aren't offered any other legal music streaming service, so their only options are piracy and Grooveshark," Westermann-Clark said. "We're happy to be able to give people the option not to steal music, even outside the U.S."
Grooveshark isn't done growing just yet. Westermann-Clark said the site plans to apply integration between artists and users, encouraging communication between the two.
In four years, Grooveshark has grown exponentially. A party for the 50-million milestone could be just around the corner.
