The business deal marks the first time that Napster will go into Latin America, adding hundreds of thousands of new users to its service in the region. As part of the deal, Telefonica will be transferring all existing users of its Sonora streaming music service to Napster. In the future, Telefonica will also be bundling Napster on its Firefox phones with the goal of encouraging more takeup of the new devices. Thorsten Schliesche, Napster Senior Vice President and General Manager in Europe, explained that this is their first move to Latin America. They have been watching the market closely, but had not seen the right broadband and smartphone penetration of music streaming.
“As demand for streaming music services takes off, our Rhapsody partnership will allow us to deliver a compelling music proposition to our customers, leveraging Napster’s heritage, brand and strong position in this market,” explained Stephen Shurrock, CEO of New Business Ventures at Telefónica Digital in a statement. Telefonica confirmed that it will have an equity stake in Rhapsody as part of the deal.
