Digital Top Stories

Rhapsody loses 30 staff, including President, as new investors take control

By | Published on Tuesday 17 September 2013

Rhapsody

Since its acquisition of Napster in 2011, the Rhapsody company has controlled two of the very original subscription music services, both of which successfully outlived countless other early entrants to the digital music market, but both of which are now struggling to stand out in an increasingly competitive sector.

So it’s perhaps no surprise to hear that a restructure is underway at the digital firm, which will result in new leadership and a cull of about 30 staff members. The changes coincide with an entity called Columbus Nova Technology Partners becoming a “significant shareholder”, and the company is putting a positive spin on things, saying the new investor and restructure will help fuel further growth.

CNTP’s Jason Epstein and Andrew Intrater join the Rhapsody board as part of the finance vehicle’s investment, and are likely to have considerable influence moving forward. Incumbent top man Jon Irwin is stepping down, but will continue to advise the company, and CFO Adi Dehejia is out too.

As the search for a new President begins, Epstein told reporters: “Rhapsody International is poised for tremendous growth. We’ve recently launched the Napster music streaming service in fifteen additional countries in Europe, rolled out a partnership with MTV in conjunction with German wireless carrier ePlus and have a strong pipeline of product innovations and global partnerships in place. We are grateful to Jon Irwin for his leadership contributions and also want to thank those employees we’ve had to let go today for their hard work and commitment to Rhapsody”.



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