The site originated as a project of Creative Commons, with the idea being conceived of and developed by Neeru Paharia (then Assistant Director of Creative Commons) as a "Friendster for music" with the intent of exposing the genealogy of remixed music. The vision was both to create a body of openly licensed music, and to motivate artists to share by exposing how their work was being used by other artists in their remixes.
The site began as a Creative Commons project, conceived by Neeru Paharia (then Assistant Director of Creative Commons), with the goal of creating a "Friendster-like" platform for music. The aim was to establish an openly licensed music collection and encourage artists to share their work by showcasing how it was used in remixes.