Two of the longest-running names in digital music, Rhapsody and Napster, are combining in a bid to grow market share and stay ahead of newer rivals like Spotify, Rdio and MOG. Rhapsody, which is the largest U.S. digital music service with 800,000 subscribers, said Monday it would take over Napster, which is currently owned by retailer Best Buy Co Inc(BBY.N). Best Buy would receive a minority stake in Rhapsody on closing of the transaction, which is expected around Nov. 30. The deal is stock based, but specific terms were not disclosed. Even as music sales have dropped significantly over the last decade -- with fans buying fewer CDs and piracy taking hold -- many start-ups and investors have been willing to place a bet on being the music retail or distribution outlet of choice for the 21st Century. But to date, digital music sales has been dominated by Apple Inc's (AAPL.O) iTunes Music Store. Napster's name is synonymous with the original "bete noire" of the music industry -- an illegal free music-sharing application founded by college dropout Shawn Fanning in the late 1990s.
Best Buy Co., Inc. is a multinational retailer of consumer electronics, home office products, entertainment products, appliances and related services. Shares of BBY fell by 4.72% or $-1.1/share to $22.20. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $22.74 and as high as $45.63. On average, 7435660 shares of BBY exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 5266675.
Apple Inc. (Apple) designs, manufactures and markets a range of personal computers, mobile communication and media devices, and portable digital music players, and sells a range of related software, services, peripherals, networking solutions, and third-party digital content and applications. Shares of AAPL fell by 1.57% or $-5.972/share to $375.35. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $277.77 and as high as $422.86. On average, 21482000 shares of AAPL exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 17821516.
