As expected, Imeem bails out Snocap by acquiring it

Social-media site Imeem, which focuses on ad-supported music and video playlists, announced Monday that it has acquired Snocap, the music-licensing company founded by Napster creator Shawn Fanning. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Reports of the acquisition had first surfaced in February.

The deal is all about Snocap's technology, as the company hasn't exactly been healthy recently: over half of its staff was let go last year. But the tools Snocap created, which handle digital music licensing and which power embeddable music-sale stores, appealed to Imeem, which was already using Snocap technology to identify files that users uploaded to its streaming-music service.

"The Snocap team built a great technology platform that will be useful to Imeem as we continue to grow," Imeem founder and CEO Dalton Caldwell said in a statement. "Together we'll build on that work in the coming months, and give labels and independent artists new ways to promote and sell their music through Imeem, MySpace and anywhere on the web."

Imeem acquired music start-up Anywhere.fm, which developed "smart playlist" technology, in January. The privately held company, once a lawsuit target, now has deals in place with all major music labels to stream songs online and provide artists and labels with a cut of the ad revenue.