Remember Napster? The MP3 file-sharing platform is making a metaverse comeback

For those who remember the Wild Wild West days of the internet, Napster was a peer-to-peer file-sharing program that launched in 1999. It quickly took off as a means to share MP3 music files and quickly grew in popularity thanks to the arrival of high-speed broadband internet at the time. Most users had dial-up connections and had to wait several minutes or an hour to get a few songs.

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It didn't take long until the Recording Industry Association of America took note, and bands like Metallica made headlines as they moved to sue Napster for facilitating the sharing of copyrighted material. After bankruptcy, Napster became a music streaming service similar to Spotify in 2016 - even though the name 'Napster' has faded into the background.

This week, Napster was acquired by Infinite Reality, the creator of "immersive 3D interfaces," for a cool $207 million. According to CNBC, the company and its name will be used to create virtual 3D spaces for music fans and artists - aka metaverse stuff.

"When we think about clients who have audiences - influencers, creators - I think it's very important that they have a connected space that's around music and musical communities," Infinite Reality CEO John Acunto told CNBC. "We just don't see anybody in the streaming space creating spaces for music."

As a streaming platform, Napster owns the rights to millions of music tracks, which Infinite Reality plans to expand into Fortnite-style concerts or parties where people can gather in a virtual environment. Infinite Reality plans to give artists the tools to create "crazy environments that are really only limited by their imaginations" and is keeping the name Napster as it sees the brand as a "disruptor."