Napster just sold for $207 million<p>The once-iconic music-sharing platform <a data-i13n="cpos:1;pos:1" href="
https://www.theinfinitereality.com/news/infinite-reality-acquires-iconic-music-service-napster">Napster was just purchased[/url] for $207 million, with a company called Infinite Reality picking up the tab. What could Napster offer in 2025 to warrant such a price tag? Infinite Reality says it'll be used as a "social music platform that prioritizes active fan engagement" with a focus on giving artists a platform they can use to connect with listeners and, of course, make more money from them.</p>
<p>More specifically, the company plans on creating virtual 3D spaces for music fans to attend concerts and listening parties, in addition to creating a sales platform for musicians and labels to sell merch. This isn’t the worst idea in the world, as attending these kinds of shared events is probably my favorite aspect of VR.</p>
<span id="end-legacy-contents"></span><p>It's not clear what will happen with the existing Napster service; for now, it doesn't appear it'll go away immediately. While it offers a similarly massive catalog to what you'll find on industry leaders Spotify and Apple Music as well as others, the service isn't really top-of-mind anymore. </p>
<div id="b3797e32651d4efeb3b263da748984e8"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"The most legendary collab?! Infinite Reality has acquired iconic online music brand
@Napster.
With this acquisition, we're expanding and reimagining Napster, empowering artists with new audience monetization and engagement capabilities, underpinned by iR’s
#immersive…
pic.twitter.com/L4Fig7QFct</p>— Infinite Reality (@Infinite_iR)
March 25, 2025 </div>
<p>“When we think about clients who have audiences — influencers, creators — I think it’s very important that they have a connected space that’s around music and musical communities,” Acunto said. “We just don’t see anybody in the streaming space creating spaces for music.”</p>
<p>Napster holds numerous licenses to stream millions of songs, which is what made it an attractive prospect to Infinite Reality. The company says its version of Napster will “disrupt legally.”</p>
<p>Current Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos says that the purchase will allow artists to create “crazy environments that are really only limited by their imaginations.” As an example, he described a reggae artist who might enjoy a virtual beach environment. Acunto adds that it’ll be like “Clubhouse times a trillion.” He’s referring to the virtual events app that <a data-i13n="cpos:2;pos:1" href="
https://www.engadget.com/what-is-clubhouse-app-130015640.html">became popular during COVID[/url], but eventually petered out.</p>
<p>Infinite Reality has been on a buying spree the last couple of years. In addition to Napster, it purchased the <a data-i13n="cpos:3;pos:1" href="
https://www.theinfinitereality.com/news/infinite-reality-acquires-the-drone-racing-league-for-250-million-solidifying-position-as-global-leader-in-immersive-technology-experiences">Drone Racing League[/url], the metaverse marketing platform <a data-i13n="cpos:4;pos:1" href="
https://www.siliconrepublic.com/business/infinite-reality-acquires-landvault-450-million">Landvault[/url] and the VR shopping platform <a data-i13n="cpos:5;pos:1" href="
https://www.theinfinitereality.com/news/infinite-reality-enters-into-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-virtual-shopping-platform-obsess">Obsess[/url].</p>
<div id="a3eb16dbc06641a3a50be662f05d5586"><iframe width="560" height="315" src="
https://www.youtube.com/embed/CKrdsGdLVQ8?si=7_UNNa2ot85wzBWE" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe></div>
<p>As for Napster, it started in 1999 and took the world by storm, creating an easy-peasy way to steal music. It only took a couple of years for mounting legal battles to catch up to the platform and it declared bankruptcy in 2001.</p>
<p>However, <a data-i13n="cpos:6;pos:1" href="
https://www.lifewire.com/history-of-napster-2438592">that was just the beginning[/url]. The software company Roxio purchased the platform in 2002 and relaunched it as a legitimate e-commerce venture that sold digital music files. In 2008, Best Buy came calling and scooped it up. The retail giant only held on to Napster for a few years <a data-i13n="cpos:7;pos:1" href="
https://archive.nytimes.com/mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/03/rhapsody-to-acquire-napster-in-deal-with-best-buy/">before selling to Rhapsody in 2011[/url].</p>
<p>Rhapsody tried to make Napster a household name in Europe for the next decade before a consortium of blockchain companies, led by Hivemind and Algorand, <a data-i13n="cpos:8;pos:1" href="
https://www.theverge.com/2022/5/18/23122179/napster-web3-bought-hivemind-algorand">bought it in 2022[/url]. These companies had plans to do some kind of NFT-based nonsense, because “music x web3 is one of the most exciting spaces.” That didn’t work and, well, here we are. Here’s to another 25 years of being passed around like a hot potato.</p>
<p><strong>Update, March 26 2025, 10:43AM ET: </strong>This story was updated with more details about Infinite Reality's plans for Napster.</p>This article originally appeared on Engadget at
https://www.engadget.com/entertainment/music/napster-just-sold-for-207-million-154432315.html?src=rssSource:
Napster just sold for $207 million
