Monday, December 20, 2004

Roxio Spins Off Consumer Software Division, Becomes Napster

Roxio announced this morning that it has completed the sale of its consumer software division to Sonic Solutions, and will begin operating under the Napster name, officially changing its name from Roxio Inc. to Napster Inc. Roxio, best known for its line of Easy CD Creater CD and DVD burning software, purchased the Napster brand name last year and began a legal online music download business that goes head to head with Apple's iTunes and other music stores. Sonic Solutions said that it plans to make the Roxio brand its premier consumer software brand, and that over 200 former Roxio employees have joined Sonic's Desktop Product Group. Roxio will begin trading on the Nasdaq under the NAPS ticker, rather than its current ROXI trading symbol beginning January 3rd.