Napster, the infamous brand synonymous with free music, is planning a reemergence. However, the company reportedly wants to enter the crypto and NFT (Non-fungible token) space this time.
The streaming platform’s redesign is a part of Hivemind Capital Partners’ take-private deal. Hivemind Capital is a crypto venture by former Citigroup Inc. Executive Matt Zhang. A group of purchasers, including Algorand and Brevan Howard Digital Assets, participated in Hivemind’s purchase of Napster.
Music lovers can purchase tickets and experiences from artists using Napster’s token, $NAPSTER, upon launch. The new Napster platform will run on the Algorand network. However, the company has not yet specified a fixed launch date.
Napster intends to serve music fans, copyright holders, and artists with its new crypto token. The initiative is still in its early stages, Zhang noted. Moreover, the number of products would be restricted at launch.
The decision enters the crypto space comes after LimeWire’s comparable rebirth. It may put it up against crypto-native platforms like OpenSea, which look for fresh avenues to grow in the digital sphere.
Since Napster was initially taken down in 2001 due to a copyright infringement lawsuit, it has undergone several identities and owners. In 2016, the business re-used the Napster name.
Regarding Napster’s early days, Chief Executive Officer Emmy Lovell says,
“Obviously it was completely illegitimate and there was a big backlash […] But it does still continue to have the reputation of a disruptor and an industry innovator.”
In its most recent publicly accessible filing, Napster stated that it made $39.5 million in revenue for the first half of 2021. In contrast, Spotify Inc. made around $4.75 billion over the same period.
$NAPSTER is set to be capped at 10 billion tokens. Before more choices were made about the token’s functionality, Zhang said the figure was “meaningless.” The Napster Innovation Foundation will oversee the coin’s administration, and stakeholders will get incentives.
How the project performs is yet to be seen. The current state of the market is not great, and the NFT market, too, is on a low. However, it could be a great time to get into the space.
Zhang says,
“Despite 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.”