// startup autopsy

bop.fm

The music link unifier that couldn't find its own beat

platform dependencySilent Shutdown

Quiet closure with no public announcement · Fatal mistake: bop.fm built its entire product on top of third-party streaming APIs without developing a direct relationship with music rights holders or a path to independent monetization.

Founded	2013
Closed	2015
Country	USA
Sector	Media

50%

Key Events Timeline

2013-01

FOUNDING

bop.fm founded in the USA to build a cross-platform music playlist sharing and discovery tool.

2014-03

FUNDING

Raised $2M in seed funding to grow the platform and expand streaming service integrations.

2014-09

PRODUCT LAUNCH

Launched updated platform with social sharing features, gaining press attention but struggling to monetize growing user base.

2015-06

SHUTDOWN

bop.fm shut down after exhausting seed funding and failing to find a sustainable revenue model as a cross-platform music aggregator.

Full Analysis

Analyst plan

Documented cause

Bop.fm was a music playlist sharing platform that unified links across major streaming services including Spotify, YouTube, and SoundCloud. The startup built an elegant technical solution to a real problem: fra...

gmentation across music platforms. However, the company faced fundamental monetization challenges and structural vulnerabilities. Despite cultivating a loyal niche user base, bop.fm could not convert

Verified lesson

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€5M

Peak valuation

HypeCycle · MoatType · ResearchTags

bop.fm raised €2M before bop.fm built its entire product on top of third-party streaming apis without developing a direct relationship with music rights holders or a path to independent monetization. ended it. See the documented cause, verified lesson and all failure signals.

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