Napster Taps Former Roblox VP and Music Chief as CEO

Napster has tapped former Roblox music chief for its new CEO as the company looks to reinvent itself and its brand.

Napster sparked a revolution at the turn of the century, bringing online music sharing mainstream. The company was a major threat to the music industry and eventually shut down under the pressure. Hivemind Capital and Algorand purchased the new Napster, born out of what was the Rhapsody streaming service, in May 2022. The new company has been working to leverage the power of Web3 as it works to reinvent Napster.

According to Forbes, the company has hired Jon Vlassopulos as CEO. Vlassopulos formerly served as Roblox VP and global head of music.

“I’ve been musing about how antisocial and unexciting streaming services were, so when I was offered one to innovate it was too much to pass it up,” he told Forbes.

“Simple things like profiles starting to become wallets for both artists and users almost overnight, without any fancy jargon,” he continued. “You log in and you see, ‘Oh I have a bunch of goodie bags in my profile.’ And based on 20 years of data we think we have a pretty good handle on what people might like and might not like.”

Only time will tell if Napster can regain its former glory, but it appears the company is pulling out all the stops to achieve it.