Once iconic music service Napster gets sold for $207 million

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Mar 26, 2025 - 12:41

Napster, once a pioneering music sharing platform that changed the industry more than 25 years ago, has just sold for $207 million. Infinite Reality, a 3D technology company that focuses on immersive digital media and e-commerce, has acquired the once iconic music sharing service. Infinite Reality is planning to transform Napster beyond streaming into a social interactive music platform.

Infinity Reality will leverage the Napster brand in marketing within the metaverse

Infinite Reality’s CEO John Acunto said that it’ll use Napster for marketing purposes in the metaverse. The company plans to create virtual 3D spaces for all music fans around the world to attend concerts and listening parties. The newly sold Napster brand will also be a sales platform for musicians and labels to sell merchandise.

The newly reimagined Napster is going to differentiate itself from rivals by serving as a social music platform. It will prioritize active fan engagement over passive listening. However, attending shared virtual music events in 3D spaces inside the metaverse will be the main aspect of the platform.

Infinite Reality and Napster have a definite agreement. Napster holds licenses to stream millions of tracks, which makes it an attractive acquisition target for Infinite Reality. Napster delivers more than 110 million high-fidelity songs from the top artists in the world. In more than two decades, Napster has paid over $1 billion to musicians and songwriters across the globe.

“By acquiring Napster, we’re paving a path to a brighter future for artists, fans, and the music industry at large,” said John Acunto, Co-Founder and CEO of Infinite Reality. “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”, he added.

Started in 1999, Napster took the world by storm

Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker launched Napster in 1999, and it immediately rocked the music sharing world. It became popular as the first significant peer-to-peer file-sharing application. It allowed PC users to exchange MP3 files, which they could play in a media player like Winamp. Using the shared files, they could create collections of digital audio for free.

They carried out all of this without obtaining any copyright approvals, making most of their activities illegal. After Metallica and the Recording Industry Association of America sued Napster, the company filed for bankruptcy and sold its assets to a series of owners. In 2022, the blockchain company Algorand acquired most of the assets from different owners.

Since 2016, Napster has been a music streaming service in a world dominated by popular players such as Spotify and Apple Music. Napster is 30 days free, then it costs $10.99 per month.

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