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Business News Digital
MelodyVR and Napster to properly merge, combined company to rebrand under Napster name
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 9 February 2021
MelodyVR and Napster will properly merge later this month and rebrand under the Napster name, meaning the combined VR and streaming business will be officially known as “Napster, no, not that Napster”. Like Melody VR, the joined up business will be listed on London’s Alternative Investment Market.
The music VR start-up announced it was buying the often forgotten Napster streaming service last August. Although still most associated with the infamous file-sharing network that first used the name, the Napster brand has been employed by a legitimate digital music platform since 2003.
What began as a subscription download service very much overshadowed by iTunes subsequently morphed into a subscription streaming service very much overshadowed by Spotify.
Having merged with the Real Network’s owned Rhapsody streaming service in 2011, Napster scored some decent mobile partnerships and launched a B2B side to its operations, though generally retained its title as the streaming service most people forgot about.
According to The Guardian, MelodyVR is raising up to £10 million to expand its streaming service, with a relaunch planned for later this year.
The London-based MelodyVR and Seattle-based Napster have continued to operate as standalone businesses since the former bought the latter last summer, but they will now properly merge. The rebrand of the whole business under the Napster name will officially happen after a general meeting of the company later this month.
MelodyVR boss Anthony Matchett is quoted as saying: “We are looking forward to rebranding as Napster. [The new] funding will support the development of our new Napster music service throughout the course of 2021”.
