MixApp Shuts Down. First Victim Of Turntable.fm?

MixApp, which like turntable.fm enabled group listening, shut down service this week. "Quite simply, we can't afford the hosting costs any more," said the site's founders. MixApp required users to upload songs thus avoiding royalties and operated on a freemium model.  Their failure, was it part about fewer than needed users to paid premium services. Is MixApp the first victim of the hype surrounding turntable.fm? 

Perhaps in part, but the reasons for failure are more complex. MixApp's mistake was more about public vs private choice of the music played. "The success was inhibited by the crowded, messy public rooms full of strangers, according to Veronica Picciafuoco of ReadWriteWeb. "Listen with your friends might sound good, but it is very hard to scale and monetize. After all, the friends who you share music with are not many, because, let's admit it, most of your friends have terrible musical taste."

Other shared listening services worth checking out: Listening Room, MuMu Player.