Napster Acquired by 3D Tech Startup for $207M to Focus on Immersive Music

• Napster has been acquired by Infinite Reality for $207 million.
• The virtual reality lab plans to turn Napster into an immersive music platform.
• Past attempts to reinvent Napster have failed to take off.

In its 25-year history, the Napster brand and associated URL has passed between several owners, with each one taking its own spin on digital music distribution.

Now, the brand’s latest owner, Infinite Reality, has acquired Napster for $207 million and plans to transform it into an immersive “social and interactive music platform.”

Infinite Reality Acquires Napster

In a statement on Tuesday, March 25, Infinite Reality said it plans to turn Napster into a “social music platform that prioritizes active fan engagement over passive listening.”

A virtual reality lab specializing in spatial computing and 3D rendering, Infinite Reality will let artists build immersive spaces where fans can enjoy virtual concerts.

Reimagining Music Distribution

Besides virtual events, other features of the reimagined Napster will include virtual merchandising and AI-powered customer service, sales and community management agents.

The company also plans to leverage its existing audience network drawn from e-sports and gaming, helping artists “bridge fan communities.”

Napster’s Difficult Business History

Since the original Napster file-sharing service was shut down for breaching copyright law, there have been repeated attempts to reinvent the brand.

In a streaming market dominated by Apple and Spotify, different owners attempted to differentiate Napster by experimenting with alternative music distribution models.

Infinite Reality’s acquisition recalls a previous merger with MelodyVR, a now defunct virtual reality concert company. Like so many aspects of the metaverse, virtual concerts have yet to demonstrate a viable business model.

Napster’s time under MelodyVR ownership was short-lived, only lasting two years before the platform was bought by a consortium of investors led by Algorand.

The Algorand-led group had planned to turn Napster into a Web3 music service. However, efforts to rebrand it as an NFT marketplace also struggled to gain traction.