NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — If you were around at the time, you heard the debate. 25 years ago, the name Napster changed the music industry. Today, Napster is based in Nashville and is part of a major deal. Napster has been acquired by Infinite Reality for $207 million. The CEO of the company talks about the company's past and the hope for the future.
"I wear this t-shirt when I travel," said Jon Vlassopulos, CEO of Napster.
He gestured to the black shirt he was wearing, 'Napster' in bold print across it.
"I'll be in airports. TSA guys will be high-fiving people on the airplanes. Walking on the streets of New York, taxi cabs are honking."
Jon said there's a lot of power in a recognizable brand.
"With Napster we saw, I suppose, what the future could be for music," he continued.
Let's go back. Roughly 25 years ago, Napster was offering free music downloads, a sign of how the world was about to change. The argument over whether Napster was breaking copyright law ended up in the federal appeals court.
"What is happening is more and more people are authorizing the use of their music on Napster," an attorney argued in court in 2000.
There were also artists concerned about Napster. That included Toby Keith, who spoke out for songwriters.
"They don't go out and do concerts like I do," he said in an archived interview. "They don't sell t-shirts like I do. They don't get to do commercials. They don't have other avenues of income. That is their only income."
Working for BMG at the time, Jon was an investor in the original Napster. His hope then was the company could become a paid service that could also be a place for social networking. Flash forward to today, Napster is now a fully licensed independent music service.
"We actually moved our global headquarters from London to Nashville," Jon said. "We're looking to ramp up that presence."
With Infinite Reality acquiring Napster, the idea is to take a known name and do something immersive.
"The number one problem now for people going to shows is they don't have anyone to go with," Jon said.
Part of the new plan is 3D virtual concerts.
"It's almost like a video game background, but the fidelity's getting much better," Jon said. "You can run around. I can see you as a presence. You can see me. The artist will be there as an avatar version of themselves, as photo-realistic as they want, and they can perform. We can motion capture, and we can connect the artist to their fans. Fans can do meet-and-greets. The virtual concerts will allow someone who would never get to see the artist in the real world, there wasn't a concert in their city, they couldn't afford a ticket, to connect in that intimate way with their favorite artist."
There's also a social networking aspect to the new plan.
"If you're on Napster, and I'm on Napster, and we happen to know each other, I can see what you're listening to, you can see what I'm listening to," Jon said. "We can chat."
Going back to the name. The debate over Napster 25 years ago is still remembered so clearly by anyone around for it. It was the beginning of a shift in how we got music. Jon said there's something key about a name connected to a cultural change.
"I think the brand is still iconic, and I think it's held its value over a couple of decades," he said.
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