Pioneers of the Inevitable, the company behind the open source Songbird music player, has had a tough year. Founding CEO Rob Lord left the company earlier this year after burning through $8 million in venture capital from Sequoia Capital and Atlas Ventures. "We were left without a game plan," said one person close to the company to me confidentially. The company has struggled through, facing what all startups face when they run out of money - shut down or raise new money at unfavorable terms if they can get it. New CEO Jerrell Jimerson has managed to scrape together a new round of financing, we've confirmed. Atlas Ventures is participating, but Sequoia Capital has backed out. The new round also recapitalizes the company - it will wash out old investors and drop the valuation substantially. That means Lord, who remains a board member, will lose most of his equity in the company. Songbird may have new legs, though. Another source tells us the company has a deal with Phillips to have Songbird included in 5 million Phillips music players . There's a chance for Songbird to become a platform for Apple competitors to work from, much like Android provides Apple competitors an easy way to compete in the phone market. TechCrunch50 Conference 2009 : September 14-15, 2009, San Francisco