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Napster: Companies
built 132 days ago
XM Satellite Radio and Napster are both ambitious companies, so it's a surprise that the beta version of their new integrated service is so paltry. In its current state, the service will certainly leave customers underwhelmed and disappointed. Tags: XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc., Napster Inc. Product reviews 2006-01-28
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As of December 31, 2004, Napster's cash and investment position was $139 million including shares of Sonic Solutions stock. On January 24, 2005, Napster completed a private placement of stock with net proceeds to the Company of approximately $49 million, bringing Napster's current net cash and investment balance to approximately $188 million.
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Napster execs claim they received several offers to invest in the company, some of which were from such top-tier VC firms as Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and Benchmark Capital. Benchmark execs say they never made an offer to Napster, and Kleiner Perkins declines to comment. The fact that Napster did not secure an investment until May, say venture capitalists, indicates that the company was having a hard time raising money. Several venture capitalists say Napster received an offer from a big-name firm, but it was contingent on the company reaching a compromise with the record industry. It didn't help that on Apr. 13, Napster was sued for copyright infringement by heavy-metal superstars Metallica.
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``Napster intends to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and it takes those obligations seriously. Napster will review the over 300,000 fan names that Metallica turned in as soon as possible. If the claims are submitted properly, the company will take the appropriate actions to disable the users Metallica has identified. Of course, if the band would provide the names in computerized form, rather than in tens of thousands of pages of paper intended to create a photo opp, that would expedite the process.''
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The Napster first quarter teleconference and webcast is scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m., Pacific Time, on Wednesday, August 3, 2005. To participate on the live call, analysts and investors should dial 800-218-0713 at least ten minutes prior to the call. Napster will ... offer a live and archived webcast of the conference call, accessible from the "Investor Relations" section of the company's Web site at http://investor.napster.com.
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By now, Napster's relationship with the RIAA had deteriorated to the point of warfare. That didn't stop the company from raising more money. In October, 1999, Napster raised a $2 million series ''B'' round of angel funding from a phalanx of wealthy Silicon Valley execs such as Angel Investors founding partner Ron Conway and Excite@Home co-founder Joe Kraus. That would help fund its growth for six more months, when Napster hoped to raise its first round of venture capital.
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