The Sound of Business

Joe Eagleton
Warrington Times

October 19, 2006

We've all been there - tired of the music sharing options that are available, wishing there was an easier and better way to get the music we want. But, did you ever think of creating your own system that would make the whole process of downloading music more reliable and effortless?

That's exactly what UF sophomore and entrepreneur Sam Tarantino decided to do in March 2006. Tarantino, the founder and CEO of Escape Media Group, came up with the idea of creating a social music sharing community in January, and quickly put his ideas into motion. Enrolled in UF Professor William Rossi's Principles of Entrepreneurship course at the time, Tarantino took the knowledge he was gaining in class and applied it to his very own real world example. Along with partners Josh Greenberg and Andres Barreto, both also UF sophomores, Tarantino embarked on his quest to develop a prototype that he himself found useful. "The goal is for this to be a system that works for students, developed by students," he said.

The prototype, named Grooveshark, is under development now and Tarantino hopes to have a full release ready by February 2007. In the meantime, he has been busy researching, programming, and developing a business model for his company, which has included meeting local venture capitalists and preparing an executive summary.

Grooveshark will follow an E-Trade model; only it will be music, and not stocks, that are being traded. Users will be given credit for sharing songs, and they can then use that credit to download music from other subscribers.

Tarantino now has both an office and a staff, and he devotes much of his free time to working on his company.

The website, www.grooveshark.com, went live October 4, 2006, paving the way for other features of the site, such as a social based networking program similar to Facebook.com, to follow. "You get such a sense of accomplishment from going from a sheer idea to actually having people working on the project and excited about it," Tarantino said.

And if Grooveshark is as successful as Tarantino hopes it will be, he foresees Escape Media Group expanding to take on new challenges in the entertainment industry.

"There are plenty of problems out there to be solved," he said.