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Shawn Fanning

Buzz Watch: GDC 2009 Take-Aways

Authored by Jay Baage on March 27, 2009 - 9:23am.
San Francisco - While many suits were in attendance, business attire was way out-numbered by jeans, sneakers and funny hairdos at the 2009 Game Developers Conference (GDC). GDC, which started on Monday and ended Friday, is in many ways different from E3, the other really big U.S. games show. Instead of showing off the coolest in current gadgets and games, GDC is focused on the people who will develop the next generation of games.
tags: Games | Video | Social Networking | Music | Qualcomm | Apple | Shawn Fanning | GDC | iPhone | Rupture | Raptr | Zeebo | OnLive |

Electronic Arts Buys Fanning's Gamer Community Firm ThreeSF

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 4, 2008 - 9:55am.

Redwood City, Calif. - Video game developer and publisher Electronic Arts (NASD: ERTS) announced on Wednesday that it has acquired ThreeSF, a social network for gamers founded by original Napster creator Shawn Fanning.

tags: Games | Deals | Social Networking | Acquisitions | Electronic Arts | Shawn Fanning | Rupture | ThreeSF |

Report: Electronic Arts to Buy Shawn Fanning's Rupture for $30M

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on May 12, 2008 - 7:08am.

Los Angeles - Electronic Arts will acquire Rupture, a games-focused social network launched by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, for $30 million, according to a report from TechCrunch, which cited sources with knowledge of the deal.

tags: Games | Deals | Social Networking | Acquisitions | Electronic Arts | Shawn Fanning | Rupture | MMOG |

Social Network Imeem Acquires Digital Music Firm Snocap

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on April 7, 2008 - 7:03am.

San Francisco - Imeem, a music-focused social network that claims 24 million unique monthly visitors, announced on Monday that it has acquired Snocap, the digital music registry and rights clearinghouse service co-founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning, for an undisclosed sum. San Francisco-based Snocap's digital registry currently counts over 7 million songs, and over 110,000 unsigned and label-based artists are using Snocap MyStores to sell their music on MySpace and other sites.

tags: Deals | Social Networking | Music | Acquisitions | Snocap | Shawn Fanning | Imeem |

Digital Music Firm Snocap Cuts 60% of Staff, Courts Suitors

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 12, 2007 - 8:01am.

Snocap logoSan Francisco - Snocap, the digital music licensing company started by Napster founder Shawn Fanning, has laid off 60% of its staff, and is pursuing talks with several interested suitors, CNET News.com reported.

tags: Deals | Music | MySpace | Acquisitions | Layoffs | Snocap | Shawn Fanning |

Shawn Fanning Details Snocap Venture at Digital Music Forum

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on March 3, 2005 - 7:35am.
New York -- Digital Media Wire hosted its fifth-annual Digital Music Forum at The French Institute in New York on Wednesday, where over 400 readers and digital media industry professionals gathered to attend keynotes and panel discussions on the state of the digital music market. Among the highlights was a keynote interview with Napster founder Shawn Fanning, who for the first time provided details of his new venture, Snocap, which aims to create a central database for digital music rights clearance, in addition to "acoustic fingerprinting" technology that record labels and peer-to-peer networks can use to prevent piracy and monetize file-sharing. "What we're trying to do is enable that vision…and enable that excitement and selection that Napster brought to the world, but do it in a place where people don't have to worry about getting sued; where they can get access to music and know when they download a track they know that it will bet the track they believe it was," said Fanning. Snocap, which plans to launch later this year, has already licensed Universal Music Group's entire catalog for inclusion in its service, and announced today that it has also added the catalog of SonyBMG. An audio file of the Shawn Fanning interview with WIRED editor-in-chief Chris Anderson at the Digital Music Forum is available for download at a link below.
tags: Snocap Venture | Digital Music Forum | Shawn Fanning |