It was a short run. Aurous has formally settled with the RIAA for $3 million and has officially shut down.
Aurous appeared on the scene in October, promoting itself as a free (and ad-free) streaming platform that pulled music from licensed third-party sources. Founder Andrew Sampson argued that his file-sharing approach was legitimate, but the company was quickly swarmed with legal action. Despite his feisty stance, Aurous eventually folded.
“We hope this sends a strong signal that unlicensed services cannot expect to build unlawful businesses on the backs of music creators,” RIAA Chairman and CEO Cary Sherman said.
Sampson still seemed to be fighting on his way out. “In the US courts it’s not about who is right or wrong, people can judge this for themselves, it’s about how much money can you spend,” he told TorrentFreak. “My only fear is that this lawsuit opens up other websites and services to attack.”