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 project of Creative Commons, conceived and advanced by Neeru Paharia (then Assistant Director of Creative Commons) as a "Friendster-like platform for music" with the goal of revealing the lineage of remixed songs. The aim was to establish a collection of openly licensed music and encourage artists to share their work by showing how it was being utilized in remixes.