Company type | Subsidiary |
---|---|
Industry | Online music |
Predecessor | pressplay |
Founded | March 2003 |
Defunct | November 2011 |
Fate | Acquired by Rhapsody International Inc. |
Headquarters | Los Angeles, California, United States |
Key people | Mike Davis, CEO [1] |
Products | Napster Napster to Go Napster MP3 Store |
Revenue | $111.08 million USD (FY 2007) |
$36.83 million USD (FY 2007) | |
Number of employees | 138 (2007) |
Parent |
Best Buy (2008–2011) Roxio (2003–2008) |
Website |
www |
Napster, commonly known as “Napster 2.0”, [2] [3] was a music streaming service and digital music store, launched by Roxio in 2003 under the purchased name and trademarks of former free peer-to-peer file sharing software Napster in the aftermath of the latter's 2002 bankruptcy and subsequent shut down after a series of legal actions taken by the RIAA. [4] Roxio purchased Napster and a music streaming service called PressPlay in 2003, [3] to create a new legal online music service that lets users access music through a subscription or on a fee-per-song basis. Napster was later acquired by Best Buy. The service was acquired by rival Rhapsody in 2011.
Developer(s) | Napster, Inc. |
---|---|
Stable release | 4.6.3.4
/ August 31, 2010 |
Preview release | 5.0
/ 2012 |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Wii U |
Type | Media player |
License | DRM-free MP3, WMA |
Website | Napster.com |
In 2002, Roxio bought the assets of the original Napster at its bankruptcy auction and acquired PressPlay in May 2003 for $40 million. [5] After integrating the services, Roxio launched a revamped Napster in October 2003, whereby users were able to download songs a-la-carte or pay for a monthly unlimited download and streaming media service. [6] [7] Users were also able to share playlists and browse other users' libraries. [8]
Soon after launching the revamped Napster, Roxio partnered with Korean electronics maker Samsung to create a Napster-branded MP3 player. The player, named Samsung Napster YP-910 came with a 20GB hard disk that ran for ten hours on a lithium-polymer battery. It used a special version of Napster software and drivers to transfer DRM-protected files to the built-in hard disk. [9]
In May 2006, Napster launched Free Napster, a free, advertising-supported Web-based music player that enabled users to stream full-length versions of all the songs in Napster's catalog of over 8 million tracks three times each, without downloading any software or making any service commitment. [10] [11] Visitors could also purchase DRM-free MP3 downloads. It was discontinued in March 2010. [12]
In September 2008, after introducing its Insignia line of portable media players, Best Buy acquired Napster for $121 million. At that time, Napster was incurring significant losses due to new competition and had approximately 760,000 subscribers. [13] [14] [15] In January 2010, after losing subscribers, the CEO position, held by Chris Gorog, was eliminated. [16]
In 2011, the company was acquired by Rhapsody, which rebranded the combined application as Napster (streaming music service). [17] [18]
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