What Happened to Musi App? Why is Musi App Not Working? Why was Musi Removed From The App Store?

Apple removed the popular music app Musi from the App Store following pressure from music industry groups and possible involvement from YouTube.

by V Gomala

Updated Oct 01, 2024

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What Happened to Musi App? Why is Musi App Not Working? Why was Musi Removed From The App Store?

What Happened to Musi App?

Musi, a very popular free music app with millions of users, has been removed from the App Store. Apple took it down after many complaints from music industry groups, although it's not clear if these complaints were the main reason. TorrentFreak also reported that YouTube had a role in this decision.

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While Musi's users were happy with the app, music industry groups were not. They claimed Musi was taking advantage of artists and didn’t pay creators or rights holders. A few weeks ago, the IFPI and other music industry groups pushed Apple to remove Musi, and it worked—Apple removed it yesterday. People who already have the app can still use it, but new users can't download it from the App Store.

Apple hasn't explained why they removed Musi, and they didn’t respond to questions. However, more details from TorrentFreak give some clues about what led to this.

Why is Musi App Not Working?

The music app Musi has been facing pressure from the music industry for a while. In July, it was reported that the IFPI, a global music labels group, wanted Apple and Google to remove Musi from their app stores because it gets its music from YouTube.

Now, TorrentFreak reports that Apple has taken Musi off its App Store, although Apple hasn't made an official announcement. It's believed that the National Music Publishers Association and even YouTube had been pushing Apple to remove the app.

Musi responded on Instagram, saying, "The app is currently unavailable while we address some issues with the App Store." They didn’t say when it will be back but assured users that it’s their top priority. Meanwhile, the music industry is also paying close attention to the situation.

Musi App

In 2016, two 19-year-old friends from Winnipeg, Aaron Wojnowski and Christian Lunny, appeared on Dragons' Den (Canada's version of Shark Tank) to get funding for their music streaming app, Musi.

They looked like students giving a presentation, but they had already created an app that was competing with Spotify. The judges were interested, and two of them even offered to invest.

Musi App's Popularity

Musi hasn’t overtaken Spotify, but it has done well while other apps have struggled. It’s often one of the top five music streaming apps on Apple’s App Store. Since it launched over 10 years ago, Musi has been downloaded more than 66 million times, including 8.5 million downloads in 2023 alone. This is more than other competitors like Pandora, Audiomack, and Deezer, even though Musi doesn't have an Android version. In February 2024, Musi was the highest-earning iOS app in North America from ad revenue.

Musi is especially popular among young people, like high school students. In a survey of sophomores at a Chicago high school, 80% said they use Musi to stream music. They like it because it’s free, doesn’t interrupt songs with ads like Spotify’s free version, and has a large music catalog. It’s a good option for younger people who don’t want to pay for streaming services.

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