So, what’s going on with Musicboard?

Musicboard, a music discovery and recommendations app, is experiencing difficulties, according to its users. Over the past few months, users said the app experienced service outages, the website went offline, and the Android app disappeared from the Play Store.

This may relate to the user base allocated to it, albeit small. (The app has been downloaded about 462,000 times so far, according to market intelligence provider Appfigures.) On Reddit, users are recommending alternatives and offering support to each other while they wait for an update.

Although it is not uncommon for an app to be shut down, when there is still an active user base, apps usually provide some sort of connection from their operators. But Musicboard users say they haven’t heard anything, leaving them reaching out to the press for help in contacting someone, at least to let them export their data.

Some users organized an unofficial initiative called “Help Save Musicboard” to bring more attention to the issue. The group is led by a Musicboard user known as Lavarini and run by volunteers.

TechCrunch contacted Musicboard to help these users get some answers and were provided with a short statement. However, the statement did not explain the long-term issues and dismissed the outages as a “pause.”

The statement, which was shared from a Musicboard team email address and signed simply “Musicboard,” read:

“The app has not been taken down. The servers were experiencing a temporary downtime, and it has now been quickly fixed. We are working alongside the Google Play team to get the app back out there. The app will not be taken down without a respectful timeline for users and official communication. The app will remain active.”

Follow-up questions went unanswered.

Musicboard’s founders, Johannes Vermanduis and Eric Hymer, have been involved in other projects. Their AI app, Frank AI, was scheduled to be acquired by a company called Freedom Holdings, Inc., but the potential acquirer finalized its letter of intent in September 2024. Dreamsands, Inc., the company that publishes Frank AI on the App Store, also runs another app, Helm, an AI-based wizard.

Via email, Lavarini says user efforts to help save the app will continue.

The Help Save Musicboard initiative “aims to support awareness and discussion around the long-term sustainability of the independent Musicboard app and its community,” Lavarini wrote.