# Napster Music

Startup profile on Capital Atlas: https://capitalatlas.ai/startups/napster-music

- Industry: Media
- Headquarters: Seattle, US
- Website: www.napster.com
- Latest round: Series A (Sep 2, 2022)
- Investors on record: 8

## About

Founded in 2001 by Rob Reid, and based in Washington, US, Napster Music Inc., formerly known as Rhapsody International, Inc., operates as a digital music and music streaming company that offers a music platform with the option to play it through a laptop, Internet-connected home stereo or TV, MP3 player, or mobile phone. The company initially started in May 2001 when Listen.com purchased an audio search engine named Aladdin which became the basis for its new streaming service, called Rhapsody and which launched in December 2001. Then, in August 2033, RealNetworks acquired Listen.com, the Rhapsody service was briefly known as RealRhapsody but was shortened back to Rhapsody. In 2010, RealNetworks becomes the parent company and restructures Rhapsody and in November 2011, Rhapsody bought Napster. Later, in 2016, Rhapsody gets rebranded as Napster. Additionally, in August 2020, Napster (formerly Rhapsody ) was sold to virtual reality concerts company MelodyVR. In May 2022, Hivemind Capital Partners and Algorand, with participation from ATC Management, BH Digital, G20 Ventures, and other unspecified investors, acquired Napster Music Inc. As of 2023, the company operates in 32 countries across North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia. 

The company offers a mobile application platform used to listen to music, with a catalog of over 60 million tracks. The company allows users to stream music over devices and platforms like desktops and laptops, mobile and tablets, voice assistants, home audio, wearables, and auto. The company’s platform is available for both Android, and iOS. 

The company generates revenue through its subscription-based model, which costs USD 9.99 per month.

Napster plans to be launched as a Web-3 marketplace for artists to sell their non-fungible tokens (NFTs), as well as some of Napster’s own non-fungibles based on its famous cat logo in 2023. It will issue its own native token, $NAPSTER, for users to buy tickets and other products on its new platform, Napster 3.0, and is planned to be limited to 10 billion tokens.

## Funding rounds

- Series A, Sep 2, 2022 — SkyBridge Capital, G20 Ventures, Alumni Ventures Group, Arrington Capital, Algorand Foundation Ltd., ATC Management, BH Digital, Hivemind

## Investors

- SkyBridge Capital — Series A
- G20 Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/g20-ventures) — Series A
- Alumni Ventures Group (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/alumni-ventures-group) — Series A
- Arrington Capital — Series A
- Algorand Foundation Ltd. — Series A
- ATC Management — Series A
- BH Digital — Series A
- Hivemind (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/hivemind) — Series A