MBW understands that MUZU.tv, the independent online music video service launched in 2008, is headed into liquidation.
According to MBW sources, MUZU’s owner – Our Digital Universe Ltd. – will be wound up on October 22 in its home city of Dublin.
Creditors have been invited to attend the meeting and a liquidator has been nominated – Michael Leydon of Outlook Accountants.
MUZU is a free online music video service available in 23 countries.
It is fully licensed by the major labels and independents, and splits advertising revenue 50/50 with music biz rights-holders.
However, labels have told MBW that they have not been paid by MUZU for “the past few months”.
The Irish firm, founded by Ciaran Bollard and Mark French , found success as a B2B video platform provider for the likes of Xbox, Samsung, Sony and LG.
MUZU has also provided videos on sites such as The Guardian, Mail Online, NME and Rolling Stone.
In 2010, it signed a “lucrative” agreement with publishers including The Telegraph Group, AOL and Bebo to make its content available on their sites in return for a split of advertising revenue.
Over the past seven years, MUZU has launched offices in London, Dublin, Berlin and Barcelona.
A window onto the firm’s recent financial health: according to Our Digital Universe’s cumulative accounts from July 2009 – July 2013, it owned €829,834 in total assets, while owing €3,967,485 in total liabilities.
In 2009, the Irish Internet Association named Bollard and French as Net Visionaries, describing MUZU as “an inspiration to the current and future generations of internet entrepreneurs who know that the internet means that there are no boundaries on what we can do in Ireland, the only limit being our imagination”.
According to Bollard’s LinkedIn, MUZU claimed “100m+ unique users per annum streaming up to 1 billion videos”.
Liquidation won’t necessarily be the end of the road for MUZU, which continues to boast of being “the largest legal catalogue of music videos available on the web”.
The asset could potentially be bought by music industry rights-holders or sold to a third-party.
MBW has asked Our Digital Universe Ltd. for comment.Music Business Worldwide
