Napster relaunch & stock listing — an iconic brand seeks continued status with new ownership

MelodyVR will rename as Napster after acquiring the brand and assets last summer, and will list on the London Stock Exchange. This will be Napster’s fifth incarnation. As a branding asset, it is still trading on its revolutionary reputation, even though its revolutionary impact is an echo from the past. For anyone who has been following online audio for 25 years, there is a coherent historical line between the original Napster and today’s ecosystem of on-demand streaming music. Click through for details. Continue Reading

Rhapsody International announces Sonos partnership to power Sonos Radio HD

Rhapsody International, the parent brand of the Napster music streaming service (originally called Rhapsody) and Rhapsody’s B2B white-label streaming provision service, announced that it is now powering Sonos Radio HD. In this cluster of brands there  is one more: “Powered by Napster” which is the platform service brought to bear for Sonos.  Continue Reading

Rhapsody offers hi-res audio through MQA partnership

Rhapsody announces a partnership with MQA, an audio technology company which creates high-resolution audio in file sizes small enough to stream, to offer high-quality audio in its white-label “Powered by Napster” business. High-resolution audio now joins a suite of technologies that companies can use to build audio streaming into their consumer-facing businesses. Continue Reading

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Napster CEO: Streaming growth will bring “a great deal of diversification” in the future

Napster President and CEO Bill Patrizio gave a keynote talk at the Midem conference, offering his insights on the streaming service’s internal plans and the broader streaming economy. He acknowledged that the company didn’t plan to tackle the current market leaders head on, but would continue pursuing other, innovative approaches to music, such as running streaming services for other brands and businesses. Continue Reading