Napster (streaming service)

[5] Napster started as an audio search engine named Aladdin that was purchased by Listen.com in May 2001 and became the basis for its new streaming service, called Rhapsody, that launched in December of the same year.

In August 2003, internet media behemoth RealNetworks, anticipating the launch of Apple's iTunes Store, acquired Rhapsody.

In 1999, Tim Bratton, J.P. Lester, Sylvain Rebaud, Alexandre Brouaux, Nick Sincaglia and Dave Lampton were working on a new streaming audio engine.

In April 2001, TuneTo.com was acquired by Listen.com,[9] a startup founded in San Francisco by author and entrepreneur Rob Reid, that had built a large online music directory.

Over the next several months of 2002, they secured licenses from EMI, BMG, Warner Bros. Records, and Sony to add their music to the service.

[15] In August 2007, RealNetworks formed a joint venture with Viacom's music network MTV named Rhapsody America.

Recent problems with the online music subscription service prompted the CEO to make "crucial decisions and think some things through".

[17] As of January 2011, Rhapsody president Jon Irwin told Reuters the on-demand subscription music service had more than 750,000 subscribers, having added more than 100,000 since becoming an independent company.

[21] On May 6, 2014, Rhapsody announced its parent company made its first outside investment and led a Series B round for Dubset Media, the operator of streaming music site Thefuture.fm.

[27] On March 9, 2023, the UK trading entity Napster Music Limited entered liquidation following a winding up notice from HMRC.