Murfie

Murfie was a Wisconsin-based company that attempted to bridge the gap between physical and digital music ownership. Founded in 2010 by Matt Younkle and Preston Austin, the venture was born from Younkle's personal dilemma of owning a large CD collection without a CD player. The business operated a unique model targeting music collectors, allowing them to mail in their physical CDs and vinyl records for storage in a climate-controlled warehouse. In return, users gained access to their music digitally, with the ability to stream high-fidelity, lossless files from the cloud via Murfie's website and app.

The platform also incorporated a marketplace, functioning as a combination of a music locker and an exchange. Members could buy, sell, or trade albums with other users within the Murfie community, effectively creating a secondary market for physical media that remained centrally stored. Revenue was generated through subscription-based memberships that granted varying levels of access and storage. The company gained some traction, becoming a member of the Techstars accelerator in 2012 and, by 2014, offering lossless FLAC streaming on Sonos devices. At its peak, the company held over 750,000 CDs and records in its facility.

Despite its novel approach and early media attention, Murfie faced insurmountable financial difficulties. In November 2019, the company abruptly ceased all operations, informing users it was insolvent and had dissolved. This left thousands of customers unable to access their digital streams and uncertain about the fate of their physical collections stored in the company's warehouse. In January 2020, the assets of the defunct company, including the vast media library, were acquired by Crossies LLC, a startup founded by John Fenley. Crossies, which had been developing similar technology since 2004, committed to restoring streaming services and honoring customer requests for the return of their physical media.

Keywords: Murfie, music storage, CD digitization, vinyl storage, music streaming service, digital music marketplace, physical media, lossless streaming, music collection, cloud music service, Techstars, Crossies LLC, Matt Younkle, Preston Austin, music trading, online record store, CD marketplace, defunct startup, music locker, FLAC streaming