Infinite Actuality, a media, ecommerce, and advertising firm centered on 3D and AI-powered experiences, has entered an settlement to acquired Napster. That implies that the model initially launched in 1999 as a peer-to-peer (P2P) music file-sharing service is ready to be reborn once more. This time, new homeowners are reshaping the model into one centered on advertising musicians in the metaverse.
Infinite introduced at this time a definitive settlement to purchase Napster for $207 million. The Norwalk, Connecticut-based firm plans to show Napster right into a “social music platform that prioritizes energetic fan engagement over passive listening, permitting artists to attach with, personal, and monetize the connection with their followers.” Jon Vlassopulos, who turned Napster CEO in 2022, will proceed together with his function on the model.
Since 2016, Napster has been operating as a (legal) streaming service. It claims to have over 110 million high-fidelity tracks, with some supporting lossless audio. Napster subscribers can even hear offline and watch music movies. The service at the moment begins at $11 per thirty days.
Since 2022, Napster has been owned by Web3 and blockchain companies Hivemind and Algorand. Infinite additionally develops Web3 tech, and CEO John Acunto instructed CNBC that Algorand’s blockchain background was interesting, as was Napster’s licenses for streaming thousands and thousands of songs.
To market musicians, Infinite has quite a few concepts for serving to Napster customers work together extra with the platform than they do with the present music streaming service. The corporate shared objectives of utilizing Napster to supply “branded 3D digital areas the place followers can take pleasure in digital live shows, social listening events, and different immersive and community-based experiences” and extra “gamification.” Infinite additionally desires musicians to make use of Napster as a platform the place followers should buy tickets for performances, bodily and digital merchandise, and “unique digital content material.” The 6-year-old agency additionally plans to supply artists skills to make use of “AI-powered customer support, gross sales, and neighborhood administration brokers” and “enhanced analytics dashboards to higher perceive fan conduct” with Napster.