Enemies no more: Metallica’s Lars Ulrich & Napster’s Sean Parker on the future of music

December 6, 2012 10:51 AM Sean Ludwig

Editor's Pick NEW YORK CITY -- To celebrate Metallica now being available on Spotify, two former rivals -- Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and Napster co-founder Sean Parker -- took stage today at a Spotify event to talk about their crazy past and the future of the music industry.

Napster founders launch social video startup Airtime with parade of celebrities, glitches

June 5, 2012 9:42 AM Devindra Hardawar

Devindra Hardawar

Airtime, the social video chat startup created by Napster founders Sean Parker and Shawn Fanning, unveiled itself today after a long period of poorly-kept secrets and barely-muted hype.

Think of it as a less-icky Chatroulette with a $33 million wind …

Rhapsody acquires Napster’s European assets for Spotify battle boost

January 26, 2012 12:02 AM Jolie O'Dell

Jolie O'Dell

Rhapsody has just announced it’s buying Napster’s business in Europe.

Rhapsody’s European expansion begins today with the acquisition of Napster International, Napster’s European subscription music service. The terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Rhapsody will own and operate the …

Spotify who? Rhapsody hits 1M paying U.S. subscribers

December 22, 2011 8:26 AM Sean Ludwig

Sean Ludwig

Streaming music service Rhapsody has now hit the 1 million paid subscriber milestone, the company announced today.

Rhapsody has been around for 10 years, but it is now fighting fiercely with newer competitors like Spotify, MOG and Rdio. Spotify in …

The fast, fabulous life of 32-year-old billionaire Sean Parker

December 17, 2011 2:45 PM Dylan Tweney

Dylan Tweney

If you ever wondered what it would be like to be a billionaire before forty, look no further than Sean Parker.

His fabulous, $20 million townhouse in New York’s West Village has an indoor swimming pool, features Byzantine icons and …

Spotify gets canned by over 200 labels, citing detriment to music industry

November 19, 2011 10:41 AM Meghan Kelly

Meghan Kelly

Over 200 labels falling under distributor STHoldings have pulled their music loot from streaming music services believing the new business model is hurting, not helping, the industry.

The U.K. based indie label distributor confirmed the move in a statement yesterday …

Best Buy branches out with cloud, IT services with $167M mindSHIFT acquisition

November 7, 2011 7:28 AM Sean Ludwig

Sean Ludwig

Best Buy has agreed to acquire IT and cloud services provider mindSHIFT for $167 million to help extend its business further beyond retail, the company announced today.

This is an important move for Best Buy because the company is slowly …

From Napster to Spotify, Sean Parker is planning for “the next music industry”

October 18, 2011 7:00 AM Jolie O'Dell

Jolie O'Dell

Rhapsody acquires Napster to help it challenge Spotify, MOG and Rdio

October 3, 2011 11:26 AM Sean Ludwig

Sean Ludwig

On-demand music service Rhapsody has acquired rival music service Napster from Best Buy, it announced today.

The move will give Rhapsody, one of the oldest streaming music services, more subscribers and help it contend with new aggressive players in the …

Top 5 on-demand streaming music services feat. Spotify, MOG and Rdio

September 17, 2011 11:05 AM Sean Ludwig

Sean Ludwig

RockStar Motel wants to put artist success in the hands of music fans

August 29, 2011 10:00 AM Regina Sinsky

Regina Sinsky

Luca Sacchetti has just created a social music network with the goal of giving fans the power to sign and represent artists online. RockStar Motel enters private beta today, with an official launch in October 2011.

“It amazes me how …