Software:Guvera

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Guvera is a music technology company and entertainment streaming service, focusing on music technology development, access to global streaming rights, and a legacy music services business model. Guvera was founded in 2008 by Claes Loberg. After pausing operations in 2017, Guvera relaunched in 2024 with new global partnerships and initiatives.

History

Guvera was initially funded by AMMA Private Investment out of Australia.[1] Guvera raised about $50m from its base of about 1000 smaller sophisticated investors primarily made up of accounting firms and other financial services businesses.[2]

Guvera was incorporated in 2008, and launched beta in Australia February 2010,[3] and in the US March 2010.[4][5] Guvera was initially released as a beta to a select group of users by invitation only.[6] Guvera had agreements with music labels in the regions where the product was available, which allowed for legal free music streams.[7]

In August 2011, Guvera appointed Phil Quartararo as its Global Head of Music.[8] In September 2011 the comapany moved into new headquarters in The Rocket in Robina, Gold Coast, Australia.[9] In March 2012, Guvera created a mobile platform[10] and in December 2012 released mobile apps for IOS and Android in Australia.[11] An iPad app was then released in August 2013.[12] In March 2014 an agreement was signed with Lenovo to become its worldwide music partner, with Guvera's music streaming service pre-installed onto Lenovo mobile devices.[13]

In January 2015 Guvera acquired Blinkbox Music from Tesco.[14] It placed the company into administration in June 2015,[15] having exhausted Blinkbox's financial reserves. The company had bought Blinkbox Music as part of an agreement with Tesco that it would pay its employees a higher rate of redundancy payment if the business failed, which it did not honour.[16] In 2015 the company received a Gold award at the Asia App Design Awards.[17]

In October 2015 the former employees of Blinkbox Music filed a £10m Employment Tribunal case against Guvera.[18] The Tribunal awarded them £3.5m in damages, which Guvera appealed. The Employment Appeal Tribunal dismissed the appeal on 22 November 2017.[19][20]

In May 2016 Guvera won an international Gold at the Global App Design Awards.[21]

In June 2016 Guvera was blocked from a stockmarket listing.[22] The company began operating in only 5 markets: Australia, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates, and Darren Herft stepped down as CEO in July 2016, replaced by founder Claes Loberg.[23]

On 27 July 2016, the company shut down its operations in its home market of Australia and reiterated its intentions to "focus all efforts in key emerging countries, such as India and Indonesia".[24] As of May 2017, Guvera shut down all operations across all remaining Asian markets.[25]

On 27 June 2017 it was reported that a federal investigation in to Guvera had started.[26]

In January 2018, former CEO Darren Herft was questioned in a public hearing by the Federal Court of Sydney about the company's operation and failure.[27]

Guvera announced on August 9, 2024 a new K-pop streaming partnership in South Korea, giving the company streaming rights to over 600,000 K-pop songs.[28] This is similar to Guvera's previous music streaming services model, however, now makes up only a part of their business model, which has become deliberately diversified post relaunch, with additional focus on legacy music services like live events.[29]

In October 2024 a two-part documentary on Guvera was released by the Australian Special Broadcasting Service.[30]

Music streaming

Guvera streamed music and entertainment for its users[8][31] and held licensing agreements with Universal Music Group,[32] EMI,[33] Orchard,[34] INgrooves,[35] IODA,[32] Mushroom/Liberation,[36] Shock Records, Believe Digital; in addition to the rights bodies APRA, AMCOS, BMI, RightsFlow,[37] ACODEM, SESAC, Cash, EMMASACM, Extraphone, Peermusic, PRS/IMPEL, FILSCAP, First Music Publishing, Latinautor, MACP, Megaliner, National Music Publishing, SABAM, SADAIC, SBA, SACEM, SIAE, SOCAN, Sony-ATV, SGAE, Solar, Warner Chappell, Universal Music Publishing, and Unisys.[35] Guvera distributed DRM-free MP3 downloads with bitrates of 256 and 320 kbit/s.[38] Guvera was also a targeted advertising platform,[31] which targeted ads at relevant music genres.[32] Content could be streamed via brand channels from within Guvera's platform, and the advertisers had a role in the selecting music content.[9]

Guvera was available on web browsers, iOS, Android and the Windows Phone.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Wauters, Robin (2010-01-18). "Guvera Raises $20M For Stealthy Brand-Supported Music And Video Service.". https://techcrunch.com/2010/01/18/guvera-funding/. 
  2. ↑ Colley, Andrew (2012-03-29). "Music-with-ads start-up Guvera to list in US". http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/companies/music-with-ads-start-up-guvera-to-list-in-us/story-fn91v9q3-1226312924582. 
  3. ↑ "Ad-Supported Guvera Launches Down Under". 2010-02-02. http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i8decb5ca03594f578a522c2145bf1822. 
  4. ↑ "Ad-Supported Guvera To Launch in U.S. on March 30". 2010-02-19. http://www.ey.com/AU/en/Newsroom/News-releases/Queensland-entrepreneurs-take-out-top-honours. 
  5. ↑ "Queensland entrepreneurs take out top honours". Ernst & Young. 2011-07-22. http://www.ey.com/AU/en/Newsroom/News-releases/Queensland-entrepreneurs-take-out-top-honours. 
  6. ↑ Van Buskirk, Eliot (2010-10-18). "Free, Ad-Supported Music... With a Twist". https://www.wired.com/epicenter/2010/02/guvera-unveils-free-ad-supported-music-with-a-twist. 
  7. ↑ Peoples, Glenn (2010-04-10). "Billboard.biz Q&A: Guvera CEO Claes Loberg". http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i880bb60276c80517f5cd1030a7a19774. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Paul Cashmere (2011-08-12). "Former Virgin Boss Phil Quartararo Joins Guvera". http://www.undercover.fm/news/15615-former-virgin-boss-phil-quartararo-joins-guvera. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Bartsch, Phil (2011-09-30). "Aussie firm Guvera steps up operations as it takes on iTunes". http://www.heraldsun.com.au/business/entrepreneur/aussie-firm-guvera-steps-up-operations-as-it-takes-on-itunes/story-fn7ve51s-1226153480451. 
  10. ↑ Colley, Andrew (2012-03-29). "Australian online music start-up goes mobile". http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/australian-online-music-start-up-goes-mobile/story-e6frgakx-1226312683350. 
  11. ↑ Kidman, Angus (2013-01-15). "Australia's Guvera Offers Free Streaming Music On Android And iOS Devices". http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2013/01/guvera-offers-free-streaming-music-on-android-and-ios-devices/. 
  12. ↑ Brockington, Tyler (2013-10-24). "Music-streaming service Guvera looks beyond the digital jukebox with re-engineered User Interface and unlimited free content". http://www.campaignbrief.com/2013/10/music-streaming-service-guvera.html. 
  13. ↑ Adhikari, Supratim (2014-03-04). "Guvera scores grandstand streaming deal with Lenovo". http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/guvera-scores-grandstand-lenovo-deal/story-e6frg90f-1226844553590. 
  14. ↑ Glenday, John (26 January 2015). "Tesco sells Blinkbox Music to Guvera". The Drum. http://www.thedrum.com/news/2015/01/26/tesco-sells-blinkbox-music-guvera. 
  15. ↑ "100 staff laid off at Blinkbox Music Ltd as Guvera dumps UK office". Music Business Worldwide. 12 June 2015. http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/100-staff-laid-off-at-blinkbox-music-ltd-as-guvera-dumps-uk-office/. 
  16. ↑ Sweney, Mark (8 October 2015). "Ex-Blinkbox Music staff launch £10m legal action after Tesco sale". The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/08/blinkbox-music-staff-legal-action-tesco-sale. 
  17. ↑ "Guvera awarded Gold at Asia App Design Awards 2015". http://www.music-asia.com/2015/09/guvera-awarded-gold-at-asia-app-design-awards-2015/. 
  18. ↑ "GUVERA HIT BY £10M LAWSUIT FROM EX-BLINKBOX UK EMPLOYEES". Music Business Worldwide. 8 October 2015. http://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/guvera-hit-by-10m-lawsuit-from-ex-blinkbox-uk-employees/. 
  19. ↑ "Guvera Ltd v Ms C Butler and Others: UKEAT/0265/16/DM - GOV.UK" (in en). https://www.gov.uk/employment-appeal-tribunal-decisions/guvera-ltd-v-ms-c-butler-and-others-ukeat-0265-16-dm. 
  20. ↑ "Guvera fails to overturn ruling in dispute with former Blinkbox employees". http://www.completemusicupdate.com/article/guvera-fails-to-overturn-ruling-in-dispute-with-former-blinkbox-employees/. 
  21. ↑ "Guvera wins International Gold at Design100 Global [app Awards"] (in en-US). Mumbrella. 2016-05-18. https://mumbrella.com.au/guvera-wins-international-gold-design100-global-app-awards-367825. 
  22. ↑ "Guvera float blocked from ASX". http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/guvera-float-blocked-from-asx/news-story/25b9b9e45294a4df1e97ad81c8008e8c. 
  23. ↑ "Guvera CEO Darren Herft Is Stepping Down". Billboard. 25 July 2016. https://www.billboard.com/articles/business/7446745/guvera-ceo-darren-herft-is-stepping-down. Retrieved 25 July 2016. 
  24. ↑ Jones, Steve (2016-07-27). "Guvera to exit Australia but vows to press on in emerging markets". https://mumbrella.com.au/guvera-exit-australia-vows-press-emerging-markets-383713. 
  25. ↑ "Connecting Asia's startup ecosystem" (in en-US). https://www.techinasia.com/guvera-ceases-operations. 
  26. ↑ "Was Guvera the Bernie Madoff of the Music Industry?". 2017-06-27. https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2017/06/27/guvera-180-million-loss/. 
  27. ↑ "Former Guvera CEO Darren Herft reveals plans to launch Dragonfly Music as he is grilled in court over company's collapse" (in en-US). 2017-12-19. https://mumbrella.com.au/former-guvera-ceo-darren-herft-reveals-plans-launch-dragonfly-music-grilled-court-companys-collapse-490695. 
  28. ↑ "Australian music-streaming firm Guvera hoping for a comeback" (in en-US). https://musically.com/2024/09/16/australian-music-streaming-firm-guvera-hoping-for-a-comeback/. 
  29. ↑ "Guvera Continues Innovation with New International Music Partnerships" (in en-US). https://www.einpresswire.com/article/752134968/guvera-continues-innovation-with-new-international-music-partnerships. 
  30. ↑ "Marc Fennell Explores The Rise and Fall of Guvera". 2024-10-15. https://au.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/marc-fennell-musics-failed-revolution-guvera-sbs-67904/. 
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 "Exclusive: Guvera founder Claes Loberg, "We're not a music app"". 26 July 2016. https://www.themusicnetwork.com/news/exclusive-guvera-founder-claes-loberg-were-not-a-music-app. 
  32. ↑ 32.0 32.1 32.2 "Universal Music Group (UMG) Partners With Guvera Limited for 2010 Launch of Guvera.com". Universal Music Group, New York. 2009-11-18. http://www.universalmusic.com/corporate/news35704. 
  33. ↑ "Guvera Limited Signs Deals With EMI Music & IODA for 2010 US Launch". EMI Music. NEW YORK. 2009-12-09. http://www.emimusic.com/news/2009/guvera-limited-signs-deals-with-emi-music-ioda-for-2010-us-launch/. 
  34. ↑ Peoples, Glenn (2010-07-08). "Business Matters: Guvera, Google, EMI, Pitchfork and more.". http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i665ac00464803dd2b204334b480ea2fa. 
  35. ↑ 35.0 35.1 Peoples, Glenn (2010-02-19). "Ad-Supported Guvera To Launch in U.S. on March 30". http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/content_display/industry/news/e3i6baa5818ddcc27e12ea74981d0c6db86. 
  36. ↑ Brandle, Lars (2010-06-02). "Guvera Inks Oz Deal With Liberation". http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/global/guvera-inks-oz-deal-with-liberation-1004095016.story. 
  37. ↑ "Guvera Taps RightsFlow For Publishing, Licensing, and Administration Services". RightsFlow. New York.. 2010-04-01. http://rightsflow.com/2010/04/guvera-taps-rightsflow-for-publishing-licensing-and-adminstration-services/. 
  38. ↑ Andrew McMillen (2010-03-29). "Aussie online service Guvera offers guilt-free MP3 downloads". http://www.thevine.com.au/news/articles/aussie-online-service-guvera-offers-guilt_free-mp3-downloads.aspx. 



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