By Brittany Levine From Mashable

Grooveshark is no more.

The controversial music streaming service announced Thursday it has ceased operations as part of a settlement with major record companies following a 2011 copyright-infringement lawsuit.

In addition to shutting down, the company has also agreed to wipe away its stores of copyrighted works and hand over its website, apps, copyrights and patents to Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, according to statements from Grooveshark and the Recording Industry Association of America.

“Despite the best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes,” Grooveshark said in the statement, now posted on the website’s homepage. “We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service. That was wrong. We apologize. Without reservation.”

Grooveshark cofounders Josh Greenberg and Sam Tarantino, and Grooveshark’s parent company, Escape Media, have agreed “to significant financial penalties if the terms of the settlement are not followed,” the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), which represents Universal, Warner and Sony, said.

Grooveshark goes on to recommend its users tap Spotify, Google Play, Rhapsody and other streaming services, urging music lovers to “use a licensed service that compensates artists and their rights holders.”

Grooveshark has had a series of blows during its decade-long existence. In addition to being sued over the years by major record companies for uploading copyrighted songs, it was also pulled from Apple’s App store and Google Play Store in 2010 and 2011, respectively.

“This is an important victory for artists and the entire music industry. For too long, Grooveshark built its business without properly compensating the artists For too long, Grooveshark built its business without properly compensating the artists, songwriters and everyone else who makes great music possible. This settlement ends a major source of infringing activity,” according to the RIAA.

Grooveshark for years had trumpeted that it was protected by a federal law that gives safe harbor to websites that host copyrighted works uploaded by others. But earlier this year a federal judge ruled Grooveshark couldn’t hide behind the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because its founders and employees had uploaded the copyrighted music themselves.

Last week, a U.S. District Court judge wrote in an order that jurors for the pending trial, which was scheduled to begin Monday, could award a statutory maximum of $150,000 in damages per song if Grooveshark was found liable, according to Reuters. That would have equated to $736 million.

Statements from both companies did not disclose a financial element to Thursday’s settlement.

IMAGE: PAUL GADD/CORBIS

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