Whatever happened to Napster?

One of the great brands of the 20th century to make a comeback

One of the great brand names of the 20th century – Napster – has again changed hands. Napster was the best-known of the peer-to-peer music services. Founded by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker in 1999, it became known as the best source of free music. It was also the prime target for lawsuits from record labels (and, famously, the band Metallica) which eventually led to its demise.

Recently, Infinite Reality, an American company specializing in the creation of immersive virtual environments for e-commerce and entertainment players, announced its acquisition of Napster for $207 million. This is the third time in the space of just five years that the company has changed hands.

A "revolution"- again

What do the new owners think they can do with it? Infinite Reality has developed its own virtual space design engine and has VR and XR production studios (Thunder Studios), a digital marketing agency (Fearless Media), and a creative talent management arm (TalentX). It wants to transform Napster into an immersive music ecosystem and make it a testing ground for new virtual or augmented reality technologies in the music industry (virtual concert halls,  spaces for meeting artists in the metaverse, 3D merchandising shop, etc.).

The goal is to try and create a new form of monetization for music.

"Napster revolutionized digital music in the nineties, and now, with Infinite Reality, we’re ready to do it again,” according to said Jon Vlassopulos, CEO of Napster. “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.”

(Michael Leahy. Photo: Michael Leahy)