Virtual reality concert company MelodyVR announced that it is the process of acquiring Napster for USD 70 million.
“MelodyVR specializes in live virtual reality music experiences, plans on combining with Napster to create the first-ever music entertainment platform which combines immersive visual content and music streaming.” – MelodyVR CEO Anthony Matchett. The USD 70 million transactions are anticipated to close by 2020.
“For music fans today, live and recorded music are intrinsically linked. We are as keen to see our favorite artists perform live as we are to listen to their albums. Our purchase of Napster, one of the music industry’s original disruptors, is born out of our wish to deliver the world’s foremost music experience, available seamlessly across audio and visual media and in turn presenting a truly next-generation music service.” – MelodyVR CEO Anthony Matchett.
Napster is a descendant of the on-demand music-streaming service Rhapsody. In 2016, Rhapsody was rebranded as Napster. Napster is now focusing on delivering music streaming to customers through platform-as-a-service (PaaS). Napster’s revenue went down by 18%, which ended on June 30 to USD 23 million compared to the same quarter in 2019.
“Rhapsody and Napster have traveled a long and winding road. We are proud of our stewardship of this pioneering business and iconic brand, and grateful for the hard work by the entire Napster team to keep the torch alive all of these years. We’re delighted to pass the baton to Anthony Matchett and the innovative team at MelodyVR. We’ll continue to root for Napster and are pleased that we’ll be ongoing stakeholders in MelodyVR’s success.” – Rob Glaser, chairman, and CEO of RealNetworks and chairman of Napster.
“The product, technology, and cultural synergies of Napster and MelodyVR will bring tremendous innovation for music lovers, artists, and the entire music industry. Good things come from being together, and we look forward to creating a powerful platform that combines our strengths and offers an even wider range of content to consumers, creators, and advertisers.” – Napster CEO Bill Patrizio
MelodyVR launched in 2018 is free to download on smartphones and virtual reality headsets.
