The brand that once changed music forever shuts down streaming and bets its future on artificial intelligence.

Napster, the name that 90s music lovers first associated with digital music freedom, has officially ended its music streaming service. The app that once hosted millions of playlists, curated libraries and over 110 million tracks no longer lets you press play. Instead users now see a message saying Napster is “no longer a music streaming service” and that the old catalog and playlists no longer work inside the app.

This dramatic pivot comes after AI tech company Infinite Reality bought Napster for $207 million in 2025, a deal that was originally pitched as a way to evolve the brand into something beyond normal streaming. The goal has always been to move Napster from a place where people passively listen to music to a space where fans can create, interact and experience sound with AI tools.

Instead of searching songs and building playlists, Napster is now pushing AI assistants and creative tools. The company launched things like Napster View, a combo of hardware and AI software built to help users brainstorm, plan and learn. There are animated AI companions and digital avatars fans can play with or get help from. Napster is trying to sell this as “the next music moment” where everyone becomes a creator and not just a listener.

But fans are not all feeling the vibe. Reaction online is loud and messy. Long-time subscribers who built years of playlists and poured money into monthly subscriptions woke up to find their music libraries gone or inaccessible. Many have shared their frustration on Reddit, saying they lost hours of curated music and are now migrating to other streaming platforms, while others joke that Napster is now an AI chat app wearing a streaming logo.

The emotional reaction makes sense. Napster once changed the music landscape by disrupting the old way music was bought and shared. Now, the service that helped define digital music culture is trying to pivot into AI everything, raising questions about what gets lost when technology chews up what was once beloved. This is a bittersweet moment where nostalgia meets futurism, and a reminder that even icons must evolve or fade in the fast pace of tech and culture.