Kanye West and Lady Gaga Photo by Jordan Strauss/WireImage)
Business Insider is reporting that Lady Gaga and Kanye West are both investing in New York-based startup Turntable.fm. They’ll reportedly be contributing to a $7.5 million financing round that’s being led by Union Square Ventures, which recently gave Turntable a $37.5 million valuation.
So what is Turntable.fm? It’s a music-based social network in which members can create avatars that perform as DJs, spinning tunes from the user's computer songs for other users. Other members vote on whether any given DJ's selections are “awesome” or “lame,” and avatars get DJ points based on how many “awesome” votes they accumulate. Members can also use the site to just listen to music if they want.
So far, the site has gotten great reviews. According to Business Insider, the site has nearly every song imaginable (somehow without label deals, which has led to questions of its legality), and users can upload music if it’s not already there. Turntable is also planning an iPhone app that would allow multiple people at a party to request songs and wirelessly upload them to a playlist.
