June 2, 1999 America Online to Acquire Internet Music Companies Spinner Networks and Nullsoft Inc. for $400 Million in Stock
America Online has made its first move into the expanding digital music world by acquiring two Internet music companies, Spinner Networks and Nullsoft for $400 million in stock. Spinner, which is based in San Francisco, runs a popular music station that functions as an Internet radio station. AOL will pay a total of approximately $400 million in stock to acquire the two companies; however, it would not disclose how much it would pay for each company. Insiders see the deal as a response to their rival Yahoo! Inc., who acquired Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion in stock in April.