Amie Street
Amie Street was an indie online music store and social network service created in 2006 by Brown University seniors Elliott Breece, Elias Roman, and Joshua Boltuch, in Providence, Rhode Island.[4] The site was notable for its demand-based pricing. The company was later moved to Long Island City in Queens, New York.[5] In late 2010, the site was sold to Amazon who redirected customers to their own website.[6]
Launch date
United States: July 4, 2006
Japan: December 11, 2007
Web-based, platform-independent (Microsoft Windows, Mac OS/X, or Linux)
Variable (demand-based), à la carte[1][2][3]
Worldwide for most tracks, some tracks are only available in the United States or Japan
History[edit]
Founded in early 2006, Amie Street opened to the public with a pre-alpha version on July 4, 2006, and was quickly scooped by Michael Arrington of TechCrunch.[7] It grew and creating partnerships with various record labels including CD Baby,[8] The Orchard,[9] Nettwerk Music Group, and Daptone Records. A beta version was launched on October 4, 2006.[10] On December 11, 2007, Amie Street Japan launched in partnership with Turbolinux.
On August 5, 2007, Amie Street announced a site redesign and, led by Amazon.com, closed their Series A round of venture capital funding.[5] Notable angel investors include Robin Richards, former president of MP3.com[10] and David Hirsch, director of Google's B2B vertical markets group.[11]
In an email to Amie Street members on September 8, 2010, the website announced it would be redirecting all customers to Amazon.com starting on September 22, 2010, and ceasing to operate as amiestreet.com. Amie Street members had until September 22 to spend any credit they currently have with Amie Street, as it did not transfer to Amazon. Amazon shut down Amie Street soon after.