NASHVILLE-based internet audio channel GIMME RADIO will be shutting down, effective APRIL 29th, after six years of operation.
According to a report in the NASHVILLE BUSINESS JOURNAL, and an APRIL 10th “epitaph” blog post on MEDIUM from company CEO TYLER LENANE, the company’s revenues of $1 million a year were not sufficient to sustain the operation, which has six full-time employees. This despite generating $6 million from investors, including iHEARTMEDIA, in a funding round disclosed in late 2021.
The platform launched an Alt Country/Americana channel, GIMME COUNTRY, in the spring of 2019 as a companion to its previously launched Metal music channel, GIMME METAL (NET NEWS 2/19/19). The Country channel debuted with artists BRANDY CLARK, DILLON CARMICHAEL and JOSHUA HEDLEY as its DJs. The following year, GIMME launched a subscription service, GIMME COUNTRY BRIGADE, then later in 2020 expanded into television with two, 24/7 video channels, GIMME COUNTRY TV and GIMME METAL TV.
“Even though we proved that engaged communities could generate real money at a higher average revenue per user than other music platforms, we unfortunately find ourselves in an economic climate where we have been unable to raise the financing needed to support the streaming services and grow GIMME to reach all music fans across all genres,” said LENANE in his announcement. “I am proud of what we built for fans, and for artists. I’m grateful for the support we got from the industry … and from the individual angels, families and friends. But we always struggled to attract the venture capital that a media tech business like GIMME needs to thrive and grow.”