Poor Napster

Not only is the L.A.-based online music company still losing money - $4.3 million in the fourth quarter - but now comes word of an effort by 29-year-old Perry Rod, an "independent professional investor" from Encino, to get onto the Napster board. His slate also includes Thomas Sailors, who manages his own investment fund and has done time for Banc of America Securities, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley, and Kavan Singh, who owns 10 Cold Stone Creamery franchises and is a "consultant" for his family's medical practice (he's 26). The three guys hold a grand total of 1.1 percent of the outstanding shares - not exactly an Icahn moment. So what exactly is their platform? From an SEC filing (via Silicon Alley Insider):

Specific areas of immediate concern include, but are not limited to: 1) positioning, developing, and perhaps transforming, the Napster brand with a strategy that better explains and promotes the value proposition, 2) further development of an in-home music solution with additional AV hardware manufacturing partners, 3) capturing the attention of adult music consumers who wish to avoid piracy and could benefit from multiple family members on subscription, 4) utilizing the viral effects of social networking combined with streaming to promote the brand and the value proposition, 5) better utilization of relatively inexpensive but creative marketing opportunities available in today's internet marketplace, and 6) cost effective outsourcing opportunities.

Uh-huh. Oh, did we forget to mention that Rod is also chairman of The Paradise Project, a "non-profit religious organization" - and has "performed professionally as a musician in the Los Angeles area." Sure sounds like the right credentials to turn Napster around.