{"id":450710,"date":"2022-06-29T14:03:08","date_gmt":"2022-06-29T12:03:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/?p=450710"},"modified":"2022-06-29T14:05:00","modified_gmt":"2022-06-29T12:05:00","slug":"napster-plans-cryptocurrency-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/cryptocurrency\/450710-napster-plans-cryptocurrency-comeback.html","title":{"rendered":"Napster plans cryptocurrency comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Napster, the brand that became synonymous with free music to a generation of consumers, plans to rebuild its business around cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens, even as demand for such assets has slumped.<\/p>\n

The streaming platform\u2019s revamp is part of a take-private acquisition by Hivemind Capital Partners, former Citigroup Inc. executive Matt Zhang\u2019s crypto venture.<\/p>\n

The UK-based company plans to launch its own token, $NAPSTER, which music fans can use to buy tickets and experiences from artists on its new platform, said Zhang and Napster\u2019s Chief Executive Officer Emmy Lovell.<\/p>\n

Napster\u2019s move follows a similar rebirth by\u00a0LimeWire\u00a0and potentially pits it against crypto-native platforms such as OpenSea that are seeking new ways to expand in the digital area.<\/p>\n

NFTs, a form of digital collectible, soared in popularity last year \u2014 but demand has since faltered, with one in three such projects recording little to no trading activity after their initial launch.<\/p>\n

NFTs have also been a hotbed for copyright infringement fights, with high-profile lawsuits\u00a0already emerging\u00a0between music figures and speculators.<\/p>\n

That hasn\u2019t deterred Napster, which has gone through several guises and owners since it was first\u00a0shut down<\/a>\u00a0in 2001 after being sued for copyright infringement. The company re-adopted the Napster name in 2016.<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously it was completely illegitimate and there was a big backlash,\u201d Lovell said about Napster\u2019s early days in an interview. \u201cBut it does still continue to have the reputation of a disruptor and an industry innovator.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Napster screenshot. Credit: Northfoto \/ Shutterstock.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Previously listed on London\u2019s Alternative Investment Market since late 2020, Napster shifted almost all of its assets to a new private company in January, a process that\u00a0valued\u00a0<\/a>the loss-making business at $45.6 million.<\/p>\n

Napster reported revenue of \u00a332.4 million ($39.5 million) for the first half of 2021 in its most recent publicly available filing<\/a>. Spotify Inc. pulled in roughly 4.5 billion euros ($4.75 billion) in the same period.<\/p>\n

The new Napster platform will operate on blockchain provider Algorand\u2019s network, Zhang and Lovell said, declining to provide a timeline for a full launch.<\/p>\n

Algorand and Brevan Howard Digital Assets, the crypto fund of British billionaire Alan Howard, were among the consortium of buyers involved in Hivemind\u2019s acquisition of Napster, which closed in the first quarter for an undisclosed amount.<\/p>\n

Use Case<\/h3>\n

With its new token, Napster plans to cater to music listeners, rights holders and artists, hinting at future services including live music experiences and merchandise sales in a so-called \u201clite paper\u201d\u00a0published<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0on Wednesday. Products will be limited at launch because the project is still in an early stage, Zhang said.<\/p>\n

While the supply of $NAPSTER tokens is set to be capped at 10 billion coins, Zhang said the figure was \u201cmeaningless\u201d until further decisions are made on how the token will operate.<\/p>\n

The coin will be managed by the Napster Innovation Foundation and will offer rewards to stakeholders, denominated in $NAPSTER. Eventually, holders of $NAPSTER may also be given a say over how the business is run.<\/p>\n

Zhang acknowledged that while launching a token is easy, some coins are brought to the market without much thought about what\u2019s next, whether they\u2019re sustainable or add any real value.<\/p>\n

A bout of selling fueled by monetary tightening by central banks and a string of high-profile crypto blowups saw Bitcoin plunge almost 70% from its record high.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the short term volatility in the market, personally, I remain very, very optimistic about how this actually will bring a real use case and enduring value, and actually bring a paradigm shift to many sectors,\u201d he said. \u201cMusic is going to be one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Now read:\u00a0Bitcoin could become the Napster of digital currency \u2014 Ripple CEO<\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Music industry nemesis Napster plans to rebuild its business around cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341034,"featured_media":450716,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44696],"tags":[79416,79414,12325,69137],"class_list":["post-450710","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-emmy-lovell","tag-matt-zhang","tag-napster","tag-non-fungible-tokens-nft"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450710"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341034"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=450710"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/450710\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/450716"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=450710"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=450710"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=450710"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}