Napster sold to tech firm Infinite Reality for $207 million
The music-streaming service Napster has sold for $207 million to the tech firm Infinite Reality.
Napster, the former music pirating site and bane of major labels at the turn of the millennium, is today a minor player compared to Spotify, YouTube and Apple Music. Yet Infinite Reality said it hopes to rebuild Napster into 'a social music platform that prioritizes active fan engagement over passive listening.'
Infinite Reality, which formed in 2019 with backing from a number of music and sports celebrities including Steve Aoki and Imagine Dragons, bought the platform from the blockchain and cryptocurrency company Algorand and Hivemind Capital Partners. Many companies have tried in vain to rebuild Napster for modern music tech, including retail outlet Best Buy and streamer Rhapsody.
Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos, a former head of music at Roblox who invested in the first iteration of Napster at Bertelsmann, will continue to lead the brand as it integrates with the company's hopes for livestreaming, e-commerce, digital community management and AI initiatives. 'The internet has evolved from desktop to mobile, from mobile to social, and now we are entering the immersive era,' Vlassopulos said in a statement. 'Yet music streaming has remained largely the same.'
Napster has long been an inspiration for tech firms looking to smash entrenched media industries like its co-founders Shawn Fanning and Sean Parker did.
Joseph Menn, the author of 'All The Rave,' a history of Napster, told The Times last year that 'Napster created this whole wave of antihero entrepreneurs,' who saw music as a way in for more valuable marketing opportunities. 'Napster knew more about the customer than the labels did. 'They had access to your music collection, they saw what people downloaded. They could say 'Bobby likes Led Zeppelin, and he's curious about AC/DC, here is his email address, and you can tell him when AC/DC has a new album out.' That was the big value proposition.'
Yet the sale and revamp arrives at a complex time for tech and streaming services, as many young consumers are pulling back from pricey streaming subscriptions amidt inflation and recession fears, turning to ad-supported free services or amateur digital content creators.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
20 hours ago
- Yahoo
Musk flips on Trump, ‘big, beautiful' bill
Washington (DC News Now) — Tension rose this week between Elon Musk and President Donald Trump. Musk is aiming for Trump's 'big, beautiful' bill that is now in the hands of the Senate. Dr. Omekongo Dibinga joins Capitol Review this week to discuss what impact Musk could have on Trump. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Buzz Feed
2 days ago
- Buzz Feed
Unhinged Funeral Moments TikTok
As we all know, funerals are an emotional event. Of course, everyone processes grief differently, but there are some people who simply want to make the entire event about themselves, causing the day to become more difficult than it already was... That's why when TikTok user @madixfinn asked, "I work in a funeral home. Give me your most unhinged funeral stories..." Thousands of people shared stories from funerals that went COMPLETELY off the rails. From arrests to mishaps with ashes — here are 21 stories that prove funerals bring out the worst in people: "My grandfather's affair partner of 25 years came to his funeral, and my granny started firing a pistol at her in the MIDDLE of the service. Granny exited the funeral in handcuffs, and his affair partner left on a stretcher." —rosemaryfuhreal "My uncle was in a biker gang. When we were spreading his ashes at his funeral, a biker walked up to me, my mom, and my sister and said, 'I want him to always be with me,' then proceeded to eat a SCOOP of the ashes." "My husband had a funeral director friend who got caught wearing the shoes that had been dropped off for the deceased. He proceeded to put his old shoes on the body." "Around the time one of my friends died, I was obsessed with AC/DC's 'Highway to Hell,' I even had it set as my ringtone. Normally, I keep my phone on silent, but the one time I didn't was at the funeral..." "While I was sitting there, my mom called and 'Highway to Hell' started blaring in the middle of a moment of silence."—gammydrew22 "A funeral attendee grabbed the body out of the coffin and danced with it. I kid you not. We had to call the police." "We were doing a service for a lady, and her son gave me a CD to play with his original rap songs. Then he stood in front of the casket and gave a 10-minute performance." "Helped with a celebration of life on a schooner I used to work on. I told the mourners not to spread the ashes on the leeward side, but of course, they didn't listen." "Suffice it to say, the deceased's ashes blew in the wind, and a few seconds later, I heard someone scream, 'Grandma's IN my eye!' I tried so hard not to laugh."—poopsaget "My 75-year-old grandma showed up at her ex-husband's mother's funeral (who was a very religious woman) in a super tight black dress that barely covered anything and neon pink high heels." "My ex tried to get me to have sex with him in a bathroom stall at his grandmother's funeral, so that was something..." "When my ex-husband died, his wife of two years (they were also separated when he died) wanted some of his ashes. My adult children despised her, so they gave her ashes out of the fireplace." —user8858476137158 "I once went to a funeral where a woman was shaking the casket, crying, and acting a fool before she realized she was at the wrong place." "I hate to admit this, but when my pawpaw died, I was at the gravesite and there was an awful smell. Without thinking, I said, 'It smells like something dead out here!'" "I purchased a cheap ring for my deceased mother because I knew one of my siblings would try to steal it from the casket. Sure enough, my brother tried to take the ring, and when he did, it broke. We caught it all on camera." —angelgirlie7 "My aunt tried to start a fist fight with me at my grandpa's viewing because I refused to sing a Mormon children's song at his funeral. He famously HATED Mormon children's songs." "When my uncle was attending his son's funeral, he got a call in the middle of the service, stood up, and walked out..." "I went out to open up the mausoleum for a funeral, when I walked in there, I found the funeral director's son and the deceased's granddaughter were 'involved.' Meanwhile, the family was already there, getting the casket out of the hearse." —celticblue2u_services "My mother let her pastor turn my dad's funeral into a full-blown church service. The typical asking for tithes, you're going to hell service. My dad rarely went to church. She just wanted attention for doing the 'right' thing." "Once everyone was seated at my grandfather's wake, my uncle stood up and started taking photos of him in his casket. You could hear the camera clicking and the horrified gasps of attendees. My uncle said, 'What? He looks good in his uniform!'" —kaoskit "At my great-grandmother's after-funeral gathering, my aunt was being bossy and telling everyone what to do, so my dad turned around and said, 'Who died and made you queen?'" "When my little sister and I went to my paternal grandmother's funeral, we had a random screaming match and kept shouting 'I didn't die, you died' at each other. Our mom had to remove us from the church." "The deceased's girlfriend showed up inebriated, in short shorts and a tube top, kissed the corpse, climbed INTO the casket, sang, recorded a TikTok video, then got into a fist fight with the deceased's WIFE and daughter. Cops were called!" —mamacat62 Did any of these WILD stories surprise you? Have you ever attended a funeral that went off the rails? Tell us in the comments or answer anonymously using the form below!
Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Libertyville's Dunn Museum displaying famed comic book artist's portraits of heroes and villains
One hundred portraits of good guys and bad guys created by celebrated comic book artist Alex Ross will be on display in 'Alex Ross: Heroes & Villains,' June 29 – Feb. 16 at the Dunn Museum in Libertyville. 'We wanted to bring Alex Ross to the Dunn Museum because he is one of the world's most renowned comic book artists, known for his distinctive and powerful visual style,' said Director of Education Alyssa Firkus. 'His work allows us to reach a broader audience — people who might not normally come through our doors.' Firkus noted that Alex's distinctive style is 'influenced by classic American Illustration,' which he studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago. 'The exhibition will feature all of the top DC and Marvel heroes and villains,' Firkus reported. Ross, whose work was previously exhibited at the Dunn Museum in 2019 with 'Marvelocity: The Art of Alex Ross,' is such a fan of the museum that he said, 'I was very happy to be back there. They could have me every year if they wanted.' The artist said that he was surprised to learn that this is the largest show of his work that has ever been exhibited. 'I didn't know it was that wide of a show because it's all focused on one subject of work that I've done,' Ross admitted. The subjects included in the exhibit are the prime characters in both Marvel and DC Comics. It's a relief to know that good outweighs the bad in the exhibit and Ross' comic book world. 'The headcount of heroes will always outweigh the villains,' he promised. Ross' personal favorite hero has often been Superman 'because of the way I felt invested in the character when I worked on the comics,' he said. In terms of villains, Ross accorded that honor to Doctor Doom. For the exhibit, Ross is creating three new portraits of Joker and Harley Quinn, 'which are special insofar as I had not done any portraits of DC's villains.' The museum will be selling prints of these portraits as well as several others. Ross' career creating comic book heroes and villains began as an outgrowth of an assignment 25 years ago to create a life-size portrait of Superman that was designed to be a cardboard standup. 'That led to a whole line of life-size figures for DC, which were only released as posters,' Ross said. Twenty years later, Marvel asked the artist to create a mural for their offices. 'I borrowed from the earlier DC idea to do a series of figure shots that when composed together made a mural of life-size paintings,' although the actual mural figures were three feet high. These figures will be displayed at the Dunn Museum exhibit. It seems like a daunting task to create all these detailed portraits but Ross revealed that he can paint one in a day. 'Because there's no background, it makes it considerably easier to focus on executing a single figure a day,' he explained. Ross has worked on many comic book series—some running as long as 200 pages. The artist is currently working on a long graphic novel for Marvel Comics that he said will be his longest work to date 'that will be an original work by me that's written by me as well.' It is obvious that Ross loves what he does for a living. He declared, 'If you make your hobby your career, you're probably always doing it.' The artist will have a chance to mingle with his fans during 'A Night with Alex Ross,' a preview of the exhibit, 5-8 p.m. on June 28. Tickets for $125 are available at The ticket includes early access to the exhibit; a limited edition print by Alex Ross; tickets to three food trucks; complimentary beer, wine, and soda; and entry to the other galleries. Ross relishes the opportunity to meet fans, he indicated, noting that professional artists 'don't get a lot of feedback to our work. So, to engage with somebody and that they care is special.' For further information about the exhibit and the museum at 1899 W. Winchester Road in Libertyville, call 847-968-3400 or visit
