The Napster musical broadcasting service sold $ 207 million to the Infinite Technological Company Reality.
Napster, the old music hacking site and scourge of large labels at the turn of the millennium, is today a minor player compared to Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. However, infinite reality said that it hoped to rebuild Napster in “a social music platform which prioritizes the active commitment of fans rather than passive listening”.
Infinite Reality, which was formed in 2019 with the support of a certain number of music and sport celebrities, including Steve Aoki and Imagine Dragons, bought the Blockchain and the cryptocurrency company Algorand and Hivemind Capital Partners. Many companies have tried in vain to rebuild Napster for modern musical technology, including Retail Outlet Best Buy and Streamer Rhapsody.
Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos, a former Roblox music chief who invested in the first iteration of Napster in Bertelsmann, will continue to lead the brand when it is integrated into the company's hopes for delivery, electronic commerce, digital community management and AI initiatives. “Internet has gone from office to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era,” said Vlassopulos in a press release. “However, music streaming has largely remained the same.”
Napster has long been an inspiration for technological companies that seek to break the media industries rooted like its co-founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker.
Joseph Menn, the author of “All The Rave”, a story of Napster, told The Times last year that “Napster created all this wave of anti-hero entrepreneurs”, which saw music as a way to make more precious marketing opportunities. “Napster knew more about the client than the labels.” They had access to your music collection, they saw what people downloaded. They could say “Bobby likes Led Zeppelin, and it is curious to be AC / DC, here is his email address, and you can tell him when AC / DC has a new album. It was the high -value proposal. »»
However, the sale and the overhaul arrive at a complex time for technological and streaming services, because many young consumers are Withdraw expensive streaming subscriptions Amidt Inflation and Receen Fears, turning to Free services supported by advertising or creators of amateur digital content.
