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Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,069
30,944
Headline: U.K. iTunes Radio Competitor Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Being Blocked From iAd

Body: It's unclear whether the iAd blocking had anything to do with the removal of funding, but it was likely a blow to the company regardless.

Geez, MR quit with the stupid link baiting headlines! :mad:
 

snprintf

macrumors member
Apr 20, 2014
69
0
Haha. Their contradictory statements about how they were "surprised that Apple blocked them for iAd" then "unsurprised that Apple blocked them because they're better than Apple" made me not like them. But then again, Tim Cook makes dumb statements all the time.
 

BinaryTim

macrumors member
Mar 29, 2011
42
1
Dakotas
Here's some more good ones

Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Someone Registers The Domain Macrumors.com

Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Bill Clinton Elected President

Bloom.fm Shutting Down After The Germans Bomb London, in 1940


Any of those work for ya, Macrumors? :rolleyes:
 

yablochnik

macrumors newbie
Jun 29, 2013
22
0
U.K. iTunes Radio Competitor Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Being Blocked From iAd


While chronologically correct, this is some quality link bait.

Logged in just to upvote your comment.

As to the issue here, I'm from Russia myself and I have to say that TNT proved once again that it's a shoddy organization after all. While I know little to nothing about Bloom.fm, I'm always sympathetic for the underdogs, so it's a shame really to see them go out of business just like that.
 

peterdevries

macrumors 68040
Feb 22, 2008
3,146
1,135
Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Antitrust suit imminent.

You have got absolutely no idea what trust law is about and where it applies (and doesn't).

I know it is inherent to the nature of a forum, but it is exactly these kind of posts that have turned Macrumors Forums into the "Apple is evil; Google against Apple; Apple against Samsung" cesspit that it currently is.
 

SeaFox

macrumors 68030
Jul 22, 2003
2,617
953
Somewhere Else
Whilst I agree, it may have hindered them being barred from iAds, it's nothing on the same scale as having your primary funder pull out.

Does every story have to be directly linked to Apple?

If it wasn't, it would be even more apparent this story really doesn't belong on MacRumors to begin with.
 

FriednTested

macrumors 6502
Jan 13, 2014
402
79
Day by day macrumors is becoming the equivalent of NotW and similar shady and questionable tabloids... Lol...
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
Antitrust suit imminent.

I'd say if it had become public knowledge that the financing came exclusively from war-mongering Russia, Bloom.fm would have been dead anyway. Maybe pressure was put on Apple not to run iAds that are paid for with Russian money, until the Ukraine is free again.
 

Dougie83

macrumors member
Jun 12, 2012
35
7
Brum, UK
Could be something to do with the sanctions war going on between Russia, US and Europe. Russian companies pulling the plug on investing in those areas. All very sudden suggesting Russian government directives coming into play.
 

mw360

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2010
2,032
2,395
Don't know much about Bloom.fm, but having acquired 1,158,914 registered users in a little over a year, that abrupt shut down seems regrettable.

1,158,914 users and not even raising enough money to tick over for a month? I guess their business model was founded on giving stuff away, and working out the rest later.
 

Arndroid

macrumors 6502a
Oct 3, 2013
903
461
I think it is both misleading and disingenuous to connect the loss of funding and the block from iAds. The odds are overwhelming that the two things have absolutely no relationship to each other. Yet we will hear for the next five years how evil apple destroyed this business.
 

mw360

macrumors 68020
Aug 15, 2010
2,032
2,395
I think it is both misleading and disingenuous to connect the loss of funding and the block from iAds. The odds are overwhelming that the two things have absolutely no relationship to each other. Yet we will hear for the next five years how evil apple destroyed this business.

As this has spiralled into a conspiracy theory thread, how about this one way to link the stories...

Business discovers it's to lose its primary investor.
Business seeks publicity in tech-savvy circles to attract new investors.
Business issues newsworthy press release contriving supposed conflict with Apple.
PR stunt fails to draw interest from Apple rivals (e.g. Samsung)
Business goes bust.
 

ArtOfWarfare

macrumors G3
Nov 26, 2007
9,541
6,026
Better headline:

Bloom.fm so poorly managed that it goes up in smoke when a single investor walks out.

If you only have a single investor, shouldn't you be working on getting more? If you have over 1M subscribers, shouldn't they be providing some sort of cash flow adequate for briefly running your company when it is between investors?
 

Stig McNasty

macrumors regular
Sep 18, 2007
127
35
MR Editors asleep at the wheel

Poor Journalism:
U.K. iTunes Radio Competitor Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Being Blocked From iAd
C'mon MR, how about some editorial control?

At least it wasn't yet another tedious cobbled together iPhone render. Those renders that are based on no new information are just a waste of time.
 

Rogifan

macrumors Penryn
Nov 14, 2011
24,069
30,944
Poor Journalism:
U.K. iTunes Radio Competitor Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Being Blocked From iAd
C'mon MR, how about some editorial control?

At least it wasn't yet another tedious cobbled together iPhone render. Those renders that are based on no new information are just a waste of time.

Yet every single one of them will make it to the front page of MR. WWDC can't come soon enough.
 

roadbloc

macrumors G3
Aug 24, 2009
8,784
215
UK
U.K. iTunes Radio Competitor Bloom.fm Shutting Down After Being Blocked From iAd


While chronologically correct, this is some quality link bait.

But its correct... so technically it isn't really 'bait.'
(EDIT: upon re-read, actually I think you're right. This is a badly worded MR article.)

Its unfortunate Apple's decisions are forcing competitors out of business, but I guess that is business for you. Its rarely fair.
 

GFreeman

macrumors newbie
Aug 3, 2011
2
0
Unrelated

As a developer at bloom (although I'm not sure the best way to prove it), thank you everyone for your kind words about us.

I can confirm that the closure, and the iAds debacle from earlier are entirely unrelated.
 

Amazing Iceman

macrumors 603
Nov 8, 2008
5,214
3,931
Florida, U.S.A.
If they are as good as they said before, I wonder if they could get funding from their users, Public Television style. That is, if it's allowed in the U.K.
 

gnasher729

Suspended
Nov 25, 2005
17,980
5,565
1,158,914 users and not even raising enough money to tick over for a month? I guess their business model was founded on giving stuff away, and working out the rest later.

I'd love to know the number of "free" accounts and the number of "£1 per month" accounts. £1 per month probably gets eaten up with credit card charges alone.

I'd also love to know when their service stops working, and when they stop charging customers. Wondering if it will happen simultaneously.

----------

If they are as good as they said before, I wonder if they could get funding from their users, Public Television style. That is, if it's allowed in the U.K.

They do charge for accounts that are not free. You could call that "funding from their users".

----------

PR stunt fails to draw interest from Apple rivals (e.g. Samsung)

Well, Samsung wouldn't really be interested. Although Bloom.fm is a competitor to the non-existing UK iTunes Radio and could take customers away from it, it is still beneficial for iPhone and iPad sales. Giving money to Bloom.fm would hurt Apple where they don't compete with Samsung, but would be good for Apple where they do compete with Samsung.
 

Jessica Lares

macrumors G3
Oct 31, 2009
9,612
1,055
Near Dallas, Texas, USA
Ehh, this is pretty much just another startup downfall. It had not nothing to do with iAds, and more to do with the fact that they overlooked the costs of running a service like this. They could have lost that investor at anytime and be in the same situation.

Even if they were charging everyone the same rate, it would be difficult for them. And let's face it, the cheaper costs compared to Spotify/Rdio are what made them more appealing.
 
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