Features
Rhapsody To Acquire Napster
For those of you who still think of “Napster” in terms of file-sharing, Shawn Fanning, Sean Parker and Metallica, the online music service has gone through more than a few changes since a court injunction effectively shut down the original company in 2001. Napster’s brand and logo ended up in bankruptcy court where it was eventually acquired by CD-burning software outfit Roxio.
Roxio used the Napster logo and name recognition for the online music service Pressplay that it had acquired from major labels Sony and Universal in 2003. Best Buy purchased Napster from Roxio in 2008 for $121 million.
Now Napster will soon be in the hands of archrival music-in-the-cloud service Rhapsody. Evidently, the plan is to combine both customer subscriber databases, leaving folks wondering if the “Napster” brand will eventually fade away into the Internet dustbin.
In return for selling Napster, Best Buy will receive a minority stake in Rhapsody. The acquisition is expected to close on or around Nov. 30.
“This is a ‘go big or go home’ business, so our focus is on sustainably growing the company,” Rhapsody President Jon Irwin said in a statement. “We’re excited to welcome Napster music fans to the best on-demand music experience everywhere.”
But what about you? Do you prefer listening to music streaming from the cloud, or do you rely on physical CDs, vinyl and/or MP3s? Please take the time to answer the poll below and feel free to leave a little something in the comment thread.