Social.FM was a free social networking service for music fans. It was run by Mercora and was shut down in August 2008. Social.FM allowed Internet users to search and listen to a digital radio network of over three million songs, express their musical identity via a customizable profile page, and webcast music to other Social.FM users. Social.FM's mission was to catalogue and organize the world's music and make it universally searchable and legally listenable. Social.FM's catalogue contained over three million unique songs by over 200,000 individual artists across all music genres. The songs were available only through streaming media, and were free. Company history Social.FM (at the time known as Mercora) was co-founded in 2003 by Srivats Sampath. Before founding Social.FM, Sampath was the co-founder and president of McAfee.com, vice-president of server product marketing at Netscape, and president and CEO of Discussions Corporation. How Social.FM worked To listen to music, a user could search the Social.FM network via a web browser and click a song link. Alternatively, a Social.FM user could download a free software client that webcasts music from his personal music collection to other Social.FM users worldwide. Musical self-expression and discovery Social.FM allowed music lovers to express their musical identity to others via a customizable profile page. Users could create musical profiles, upload digital pictures, and listen to and webcast their favorite artists. A Social.FM user could discover new music by viewing recent searches, listening to webcasts, exploring mixes, or browsing the profiles and collections of other Social.FM users. A user could also search for artist biographies, discographies, reviews, images, and podcasts. Social.FM users could also communicate and share their musical tastes via charts, messaging, and chat. Social.FM Mobile The Social.FM Mobile music service provided users with wireless access to the Social.FM network. Social.FM users could search and listen to a digital radio network of over three million unique songs and 200,000 individual artists. Social.FM Mobile also provided: 100,000 channels of digital radio Over-the-air access to the music library on the PC Access to friends' music collections Streaming podcasts from leading media services Stereo Bluetooth support via A2DP profiles Social.FM Mobile offered support for any Windows Mobile 5.0-based Smartphone or Pocket PC phone with Wi-Fi, GSM or GPRS (3G) connectivity. Windows Mobile 5.0-certified devices include the Motorola Q, Palm Treo 700w and Smartphone and Pocket PC phones by Hewlett-Packard, HTC, i-mate, Siemens, Samsung, and Audiovox. IM Artist Program