Napster, now a streaming service, sells for $ 207 million to infinite reality | Technology

A brand that was notoriously connected to the music piracy before re -emerging as a subscription music service, was sold to infinite reality for $ 207 million.

The technological startup announced Tuesday that he had purchased Napster In the hope of transforming the streaming service into a social music platform in which artists can connect with fans and better monetize their work.

“The Internet has evolved from desktop to mobile phone, from mobile devices to social media, and now we are entering the engaging era. However, music stream has remained largely the same. It is time to reinvent what is possible,” said the CEO of Napster, Jon Vlassopulos, in a blog post.

Among his plans to update Napster, Infinite reality has said that he would have created virtual 3D spaces that will allow fans to attend concerts and give musicians or labels the opportunity to sell digital and physical goods. The artists will also receive a wider range of metrics and analysis to better understand the behavior of the users of the platform.

“We cannot think of a better use case for our technology than to put it in the hands of musical artists who constantly push the boundaries of what is possible,” said Amish Shah, Chief Business Officer of Infinite Reality.

Napster was launched in 1999 by Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker and quickly became the first significant application for sharing peer-to-peer files. It closed At the beginning of the 2000s after the record industry and the popular rock band Metallica sued on copyright violations. Rhapsody subsequently purchased The brand in 2011 and relaunched it as a music streaming service.