Social music site operator Buzznet Inc. has been on a buying spree this year, acquiring
several popular blogs following a new round of funding that
included Universal Music Group. But an announcement today from music widget developer
Qloud casts doubt on prior
reports that Buzznet had acquired it -- at least not outright.
In Qloud's joint
statement with MySpace Inc. announcing that its service can now be used to stream any song from a user's iTunes library via that user's MySpace page, former AOL chairman Steve Case is still identified as an investor, alongside other unnamed prominent media industry executives. As of November 2007, Qloud's investors were
known to include Island Records founder Chris Blackwell, Launch Music founder Dave Goldberg, AOL executives Jim Bankoff and Ted Leonsis, former Warner Music executive vice president Paul Vidich and EMI Music senior vice president Tom Ryan.
So did the stakeholders earn an exit in a deal with Buzznet? A Qloud spokesperson declined comment, but admitted that Case and other individual investors still hold stakes in the company and mentioned Leonsis and Goldberg by name. Qloud hasn't updated its company
blog since February 29, nor its Web site's
news page since December 20. If Buzznet did execute a transaction with Qloud, it would seem to have been a deal for a partial stake rather than full ownership, contrary to past reports.
Buzznet has kept mum on most of its deals, occasionally
acknowledging them weeks or months after they're
first reported. We'll keep our ears open for confirmation, denial or clarification, and I'll update soon if any of the parties involved has anything to add.
-- Paul BonanosSee June press release from Qloud and MySpace
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