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June 27, 2008

Napster dissident shareholders press proxy fight: 'the company would benefit from a fresh perspective'

Wired Listening Post | Read Full Story >

Three shareholders in the beleaguered Napster music service say company hasn’t done enough to compete with Apple or combat online piracy.

The disgruntled shareholders, Perry Rod, Thomas Sailors and Kavan Singh, citing CBS‘s purchase of Last.fm for $280 million and Viacom’s purchase of 49 percent of Rhapsody’s US business want to switch up the management team, because “the company would benefit from a fresh perspective,” as they state in an SEC filing cited by Reuters.

Their filing points out that Napster’s business is similar to those of Rhapsody and Last.fm, while Napster has sat on the sidelines watching them score. According to their calculations based on CBS‘s purchase of Last.fm, Napster’s market value should be $297.1 million, which would translate to $6.40 per share. At the end of trading on Thursday, Napster’s shares languished at $1.48.


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2 Comments

#1 Ex-Napster-er says:

It is sort of amazing that the most recognized online music brand has managed to underwhelm so completely. From the inside, it's incredible how little vision has been shown from higher-ups at the company who spend more time congratulating each other on their mediocre marketing than embracing music. What happened to the Napster that shook shit up because they knew what it meant to be a music fan?

#2 frank says:

I always thought that, in relaunching Napster as a legit service, they made a big mistake by keeping the name "Napster" because it has so many powerful connotations. A large part of Napster's initial appeal was that it seemed like a form of rebellion to use it. So, when it was relaunched I always imagined former-users going back to the site and thinking "uhmm . . . what do you mean, you want my creditcard info?"


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