Mysterious death has his family puzzled.
By Raif Karerat
WASHINGTON, DC: Grooveshark co-founder Joshua Greenberg was found dead on July 19 at his home in Gainesville, Florida, according to a statement released the next day by local police via Twitter.
Greenberg’s death occurred just weeks after Grooveshark shut down after major record labels attacked the business over its failure to secure the rights to music on the website.
The cause of death was not immediately known, but the department wrote that there was “no evidence of foul play or suicide.”
His mother, Lori Greenberg, told the Gainesville Sun that an autopsy found no cause of death pending toxicology testing which could take several months.
“[The medical examiners] are as baffled as I am,” she said.
She also told the newspaper that her son was more relieved than depressed about the April 30 settlement that shut down Grooveshark since it ended the lawsuit that had been hanging over his head.
“He was excited about potential new things that he was going to start,” Lori Greenberg said.
Sony, Warner, and Universal Music took legal action against the service in 2011. The labels alleged Grooveshark had illegally shared just under 5,000 songs, with a potential damages of $736 million being mooted.
By closing the service down, Grooveshark no longer has to pay the fine, but the founders could still have faced financial penalties if they violated the terms of their agreement with the labels, reported The Telegraph.
Greenberg was widely regarded as a mentor to budding entrepreneurs and computer programmers, helping people get started in the tech industry through Grooveshark University classes, the Summer with the Sharks internship program, and as a partner in the Founders Pad business incubator, reported The Sun.
At the local level, he was a founding member of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce’s Gainesville Technology Council.
Chamber board Chairman John Carlson and interim president and CEO Susan Davenport issued a joint statement honoring Greenberg:
“A true technology pioneer and visionary, Josh was co-founder of Grooveshark.com, which brought unprecedented tech opportunities to our region,” the statement read. “His contributions, which helped to lay our region’s innovative technology foundation, will not be forgotten.”