The once-iconic music-sharing platform Napster just sold for $207 million, . A company called Infinite Reality ponied up the cash. What could Napster offer in 2025 to warrant such a price tag? Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto says it’ll be used for marketing in the metaverse. In other words, a platform from 1999 will be used as part of a technology that seemingly peaked in 2021. That sounds about right.
More specifically, the company plans on creating virtual 3D spaces for music fans to attend concerts and listening parties, in addition to creating a sales platform for musicians and labels to sell merch. This isn’t the worst idea in the world, as attending these kinds of shared events is probably my favorite aspect of VR.
“When we think about clients who have audiences — influencers, creators — I think it’s very important that they have a connected space that’s around music and musical communities,” Acunto said. “We just don’t see anybody in the streaming space creating spaces for music.”
Napster holds numerous licenses to stream millions of songs, which is what made it an attractive prospect to Infinite Reality. The company says its version of Napster will “disrupt legally.”
Current Napster CEO Jon Vlassopulos says that the purchase will allow artists to create “crazy environments that are really only limited by their imaginations.” As an example, he described a reggae artist who might enjoy a virtual beach environment. Acunto adds that it’ll be like “Clubhouse times a trillion.” He’s referring to the virtual events app that , but eventually petered out.
Infinite Reality has been on a buying spree the last couple of years. In addition to Napster, it purchased the , the metaverse marketing platform and the VR shopping platform .