Tech commerce company Infinite Reality has purchased Napster for $207 million, aiming to transform the music streaming service into a social music platform.
The acquisition aims to create virtual 3D spaces for fans to attend concerts and offer musicians and labels the ability to sell digital and physical merchandise.
What they’re saying: Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos expressed the need to reimagine music streaming.
- “The internet has evolved from desktop to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era. Yet, music streaming has remained largely the same. It’s time to reimagine what’s possible,” said Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos.
- Infinite Reality Chief Business Officer Amish Shah added, “We can think of no better use case for our technology than putting it in the hands of music artists who are constantly pushing the boundaries of what’s possible.”
Driving the news: Napster, originally launched in 1999 as a peer-to-peer file-sharing application, faced legal challenges and was relaunched as a music streaming service by Rhapsody in 2011.
