From its spacious offices above 101 Downtown, Grooveshark offers music lovers the opportunity to listen to their favorite artists from their computer or mobile device. Founded in 2006 by former UF students Sam Tarantino and Josh Greenberg, the two aim to “diminish piracy while strengthening the relationship between listener and artist.” Take a look behind the music at one of Gainesville’s most unique office spaces.
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LOCATION: 201 SE Second Ave.
WEBSITE: www.grooveshark.com
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: About 70 in Gainesville and 20 in the New York office, in addition to a year-round team of interns.
HOW LONG IN CURRENT LOCATION: About two years.
WHAT THEY DO: Grooveshark offers one of the largest online, on-demand music services to more than 30 million users who have shared more than 15 million files.
FUN FACT: Grooveshark offers a “Summer with the Sharks” intern program, which brings in students from all over the country and provides them with amenities like housing and meals. These students work with the web development team and work on special projects that they get to see on the website when they leave after two months.
WANT TO WORK THERE?: Grooveshark is hiring for more than 20 positions in Gainesville and New York. Visit grooveshark.com/#!/careers to see available openings.
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Grooveshark’s workspace is broken into islands of different departments. These islands include community support, human resources, advertising and web development (the Dev Pit).
Grooveshark has people come in and out of the office 24 hours a day. To help establish a productive work/life balance, the company provides laundry and dry cleaning services to all employees, as well as health and dental insurance, and discounts at local businesses.
Across the street from Grooveshark’s office, tucked into the Sun Center, is the Sound Bites cafe, a free eatery only available to Grooveshark staff and partner organizations. Here, Executive Chef Julian Equizi and his five kitchen staff members provide around 200 meals a day, made to order, from breakfast to dinner.
Grooveshark supports local artists by displaying pieces in the office. The flowing ceiling wraps found throughout the office were put there by The Church of Holy Colors, a downtown gallery space.
Grooveshark offers Grooveshark University to entrepreneurs and the public. The program provides the knowledge, training, support and network needed to start a business venture with weekly meetings, presentations by grooveshark developers and opportunities for feedback on personal projects.
The office features several leisure areas, including a recreation room equipped with a ping pong table that the staff uses for office tournaments, a jam room stocked with guitars, keyboards, drums and other instruments for late afternoon jam sessions, and a video game room that features a projector system and several video game consoles.
Grooveshark employees can take advantage of in-office masseuse sessions and discounted membership to Alter Ego Fitness.