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Best Buy Coughs Up $54 Million For Napster

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the so-i-heard-you-got-robbed dept.

MarketWatch reports that Best Buy has decided to toss $54 million into an acquisition of Napster. All told, the deal amounts to around $121 million, with about $67 million headed towards getting cash and short-term investments from Napster's balance sheet. "The deal will give Best Buy an online digital music retail outlet as well as a subscription streaming service that has about 700,000 subscribers. That could help Best Buy to compete against retail giant Wal-Mart, which has its own online digital music offering."

13 of 164 comments (clear)

  1. ... and somehow, they managed to make it suck more by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    Good work, Best Buy. That takes effort.

  2. Can anyone explain... by Darundal · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...how this wasn't a giant waste of cash and a sign that Best Buy is run by PHBs? Honestly, I understand the reasoning (online is where music distribution is, at this point, which cuts into their bottom line), but the Napster brand is, at least last I knew, pretty much useless as a brand. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

    1. Re:Can anyone explain... by garcia · · Score: 4, Interesting

      but the Napster brand is, at least last I knew, pretty much useless as a brand. If I am wrong, someone please correct me.

      Well, give them a chance, maybe they'll start giving out free music again, just like Napster was when the brand actually meant something more than stocks and dollars changing hands.

    2. Re:Can anyone explain... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Wow, it just goes to show how out of touch geeks are.

      Ask an average non-geek about napster and they will know automatically that its a music outlet much like itunes. They won't know that it sucks, they won't know much about it at all, but it is a well known brand. So yes if marketed correctly it could be very profitable.

      But it will still suck

  3. This is interesting by nauseum_dot · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think this could eventually give Best Buy some leverage in selling electronics because they will package downloads with the sale of mp3 players. I think they may be putting together enough clout to give Apple a good scare.

    --
    Crap! I just kissed my karma good-bye.
    1. Re:This is interesting by UnknowingFool · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Seriously do you think Apple is scared of Best Buy? Apple isn't scared of Wal-mart which is larger, has a better IT infrastructure, and can get better deals with the media companies. The main reason Apple isn't scared is that iTunes Store exists only to sell more iPods and AppleTVs. It makes some profit but the company's future isn't bet on it. If iTunes Store were to shut down tomorrow due, it really would not hurt Apple. The problem for Best Buy leveraging downloads to sell mp3 players is that they offer nothing special and are really late to the game. Which DRM would they use? PlaysForSure? We all saw what happened to other MS partners. That would also eliminate their iPod customers as well. No DRM. They have to compete with Amazon and Apple with 700K singles compared to millions for each for Amazon and Apple. Would their integration be as easy to use as Apple or even MS Zune or would it be like every other player out there?

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  4. Re:Just a name... by jep77 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Well it was either that or buy naming rights for a stadium. They may have made the wrong choice.

  5. Did you hear that, Steve Jobs? by bigtallmofo · · Score: 4, Funny

    In your face, Steve Jobs!! You and your lame iTunes store are screwed now!

    Expect all kinds of innovation from this combined entity... Like 98.9 cent downloads. Store name that ends in "ster". More.

    --
    I'm a big tall mofo.
    1. Re:Did you hear that, Steve Jobs? by BitterOldGUy · · Score: 4, Funny

      and the opportunity to purchase an extended warranty on your downloads for 49.95! Protects your investment!

  6. Nothing left to say by Just+Some+Guy · · Score: 4, Funny

    You know, I tried hard to think of something funny here. There's just not a punch line you can add to this.

    To paraphrase Hank Hill, this acquisition is the feces that is produced when shame eats too much stupidity.

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    Dewey, what part of this looks like authorities should be involved?
  7. Re:I looked by DanZ23 · · Score: 4, Informative

    You should look into Amazon's mp3 downloads. less than a buck a song, and totally DRM free. I get 99% of my music this way

  8. Not The Real Napster of Course by illectro · · Score: 5, Informative
    Napster 2.0 is of course a Napster Branded music store created by Roxio.

    All the engineers from napster went off to setup their own music sites, the most high profile children of Napster are of course Snocap, which was setup by Shawn after napster 1.0 died and later got acquired by imeem.com which was also started by napster engineers and has become the most popular web2.0 music site (over twice the users of last.fm).

    There's also finetune and a few other small music projects that can trace some lineage to the original napster. Every single one of these descendants from napster are a whole lot more interesting and innovative than what the Napster brand ever did.

  9. Re:Stupid by Otter · · Score: 4, Informative

    I'd never heard of it either, but -- here you go.

    $9.22 albums, DRM-free MP3s, can't purchase on Firefox or on non-Windows. Not bad, if you have Windows and IE. Does browser ID-spoofing work?

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...