Turntable.fm
Lady Gaga invested. It still died.
CAUSE OF DEATH: Shut itself down in 2013 to focus on another product nobody remembers.
Turntable.fm launched in May 2011 as a pivot from a failed product called Stickybits. You sat in a virtual room, took turns playing DJ, and strangers voted "lame" or "awesome." Within two months it raised $7 million at a $35 million valuation, with Lady Gaga and Kanye West among the investors. Sir Mix-A-Lot used it. Then came the licensing deals, a U.S.-only wall, and a paid tier that let you post GIFs. It shut down on December 2, 2013. In 2021 two of its original team relaunched it separately, as two companies. One needed a password. The other, as of late 2024, had a waitlist. The party ended and two hosts each started their own.