While there’s a lot of coverage of Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch acquisition, I found myself pondering the impact of another merger this morning. Electronic shop and direct marketer Best Buy agreed to purchase music sharing site Napster today.
The investment not only shows the promise of digital music, but also the power of a good list. Napster’s subscribers are known music lovers and the company has already invested heavily in new music distribution platforms. Reporter Mary Hurn covered the trends surrounding Web 2.0 music marketing for us last month.
Given Best Buy’s history with successful direct marketing tactics, I’m looking forward to watching how the retailer might leverage new names.