Rhapsody, a music streaming service, has announced today that it will rebrand itself to Napster. The change will take effect in North America in the near future.
Napster will feature the same music, service, and price to users without any changes to a user's music library. Moreover, the rebranding is part of Rhapsody's restructuring as a company, which according to a report, included a series of layoffs.
Mike Davis, CEO of Rhapsody International stated a few words about the company restructuring. He said:
The difficult actions we are taking now will create operational efficiency and position Rhapsody/Napster for growth while further expanding our global partnerships, which last year contributed to a 35 percent increase in paid subscribers. We’re proud of the product innovations we’ve introduced that connect music fans with each other to discover new music they love, and look forward to continuing to create experiences and partnerships that increase the amount of music people emotionally connect and listen to around the world.”
Napster is the name for another music service back in the day, which was infamous for being home to pirated music, and was eventually sold off to American retailer Best Buy. However, the company was unsuccessful in attracting new subscribers, which forced it to sell the business to Rhapsody. The Napster service was dissolved under the company, and has since become one of the many music streaming services available today, alongside Spotify, Apple Music, and Groove.
Source: Music Business Worldwide
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