

Note 5	Napster Joint Venture

As of September 30, 2018 we owned approximately 42% of the issued and outstanding stock of Rhapsody International Inc., doing business as Napster, and account for our investment using the equity method of accounting.

Rhapsody America LLC was initially formed in 2007 as a joint venture between RealNetworks and MTV Networks, a division of Viacom International Inc. (MTVN), to own and operate a business-to-consumer digital audio music service originally branded as Rhapsody. The service was re-branded in 2016 as Napster. In this Note, we refer to the business as Napster, although the legal entity in which we hold our investment is Rhapsody International, Inc.

Following certain restructuring transactions effective March 31, 2010, we began accounting for our investment using the equity method of accounting. As part of the 2010 restructuring transactions, RealNetworks contributed $18.0 million in cash, the Rhapsody brand and certain other assets, including content licenses, in exchange for shares of convertible preferred stock of Rhapsody, carrying a $10.0 million preference upon certain liquidation events.

We recorded our share of losses of Napster of $0.7 million for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2018; and $0.0 million and $1.1 million for the quarter and nine months ended September 30, 2017. Because of the $10.0 million liquidation preference on the preferred stock we hold in Napster, under the equity method of accounting we did not record any share of Napster losses that would reduce our carrying value of Napster, which is impacted by Napster equity transactions, below $10.0 million, until Napster's book value was reduced below $10.0 million. This occurred in the first quarter of 2015. As of September 30, 2018, the carrying value of our Napster equity investment was zero, as we did not have any further commitment to provide future support to Napster, with the exception of the guaranty discussed below. Unless we commit to provide future financial support to Napster, we do not record any further share of Napster losses that would reduce our carrying value of Napster below zero; in accordance with GAAP, we currently track those suspended losses outside of our financial statements.

In December 2016, RealNetworks entered into an agreement to loan up to $5.0 million to Napster for general operating purposes, as did Napster's other 42% owner. Each entity fully funded its loan, providing $3.5 million each in December 2016 and the remaining $1.5 million each in January 2017. These loans are subordinate to senior creditors, and bear an interest rate of 10% per annum, which is added to the outstanding principal balance. At the time of signing the agreement we recognized previously suspended Napster losses, and, consequently, we did not record a receivable related to this loan.

As discussed in Note 4 to our 2017 Form 10-K, during November 2017, Napster entered into an amendment to its revolving credit facility. In conjunction with the amendment, both RealNetworks and Napster's other 42% owner entered into an arrangement to guarantee up to $2.75 million each of Napster's outstanding indebtedness on the credit facility. As a result of this guaranty, in December 2017 we recognized previously suspended Napster losses up to the full $2.75 million guaranty in our consolidated statement of operations. As of the date of this filing, RealNetworks has not been required to pay any amounts under the guaranty, and the amount is reflected on our condensed consolidated balance sheets as Commitment to Napster.

Summarized financial information for Napster, which represents 100% of its financial information, is as follows (in thousands):



	Quarter Ended September 30,					Nine Months Ended September 30,
	2018		2017			2018		2017
Net revenue	$	34,814	$	42,816		$	111,343	$	134,414
Gross profit	10,029		7,245			28,690		19,927
Operating income (loss)	4,142		179			14,452		(9,692		)
Net income (loss)	2,768		(627		)	9,350		(13,960		)