Napster, the platform once infamous for its role in music piracy and now known as a subscription music service, has a new owner—Infinite Reality. The tech startup paid $207 million for Napster and plans to breathe new life into the platform by transforming it into a social music hub.
Infinite Reality confirmed the purchase Tuesday, detailing the company’s vision to modernize and socialize music streaming and connect artists with fans. The company’s outline for the future of Napster includes virtual concerts and expands the ability for creators to sell official merchandise directly to fans. Users will also receive enriched analytics.
Infinite Reality envisions this integration as highly valuable. “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,” said Infinite Reality Chief Business Officer Amish Shah. Experts note that artists increasingly require a place to nurture communities and specific fan bases: a dynamic social feed, along with live performance and merchandise selling capabilities, offer a high degree of customization.
Infinite Reality outlined several planned features:
- Digital spaces: Create virtual 3D environments for fan interactions and virtual concerts.
- Merchandising: Allow artists and labels to easily sell both digital and physical merchandise via in-app stores.
- Arcane data access: Offer comprehensive analytics to artists to reveal user behavior and platform metrics.
Shah expects to leverage Infinite Reality’s technology to expand possibilities in the music industry. CEO Jon Vlassopulos cited the evolution of internet use in desktop and social media to argue that streaming should enter an “immersive era.”
The music service is evolving rapidly: Napster was founded in 1999 as the first major peer-to-peer file-sharing application. Before Rhapsody bought the brand in 2011 and relaunched it as a music streaming service, Napster faced legal battles after Metallica and others sued for copyright violations.
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Who knew Napster would be the grandparent of today’s streaming services? The company’s pivot from an underground piracy scheme to a feature-rich, social music hub shows that sometimes the best ways to evolve are through necessity. If this transformation sticks, the music community has a lot to gain from these enhanced tools.
Listeners may want advanced features and engagement, but for artists, having powerful data analytics puts them back in charge. For years, the industry relied on buying exclusive data from Nielsen or MRC, now artists could control the data fromcrumb from their fans, In this way, selling directly through Napster could revitalize artists’ incomes.
Infinite Reality plans to change the music industry landscape once again with virtual events and direct sales. Currently, consumers have to battle with Ticketmaster’s reputation for having sky-high fees and artists can only guess how fans react to their performances, Napster’s new direction is a straightforward response to the industry’s growing pains.
Rarely do you see a platform pivot so drastically from its original use, but forgiving history is key to this turnaround. It’s up to Napster to prove that a formerly nefarious brand can finally be an agile, pioneering force in the music community.
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