Napster, has been sold for more than $200 million over 20 years after shutting down.
The file sharing platform was sold to technology company, Infinite Reality for $207 million, more that two decades after it initially shut down. According to Infinite Reality, they are seeking to reform Napster as “a social music platform that prioritises active fan engagement over passive listening” and will allow artists to “connect with, own and monetise the relationship with their fans".
Other changes include implementing virtual 3D spaces for fans to attend concerts, as well as giving record labels or musicians the freedom to sell digital or physical merchandise. It also plans to give artists a greater selection of metrics and analytics to understand the behaviour of users online.
“By acquiring Napster, we’re paving a path to a brighter future for artists, fans, and the music industry at large. This strategic move aligns with Infinite Reality’s vision to lead an internet industry shift from a flat 2D clickable web to a 3D conversational one — giving all creators modern tools to better engage, monetize, and measure their audiences", Infinite Reality's CEO and co-founder John Acunto said.
Napster was originally founded in 1999, sparking a wave of pirating software and applications, and was soon followed by the likes of LimeWire and ThePirateBay.
That same year saw Napster sued by he Recording Industry Association of America, regarding the illegal distribution of copyrighted content. A year later, Napster was famously sued by Metallica, before it eventually filed for bankruptcy in 2002, and was eventually shut down following a court order.
The platform was later purchased by Rhapsody and relaunched as a paid streaming service in 2011.
To this day, Napster remains active, with more than 110 million licensed tracks, and available across 34 countries. However, it has been unable to compete with YouTube, Amazon Music, Spotify, Apple Music, Tidal among other streaming services.
Last week, Scottish band, Deacon Blue called on fellow artists to "wake up" amid the ongoing threat of artificial intelligence to the music industry. More on this from Nova here.
