Napster, the popular music-sharing service from the early 2000s has acquired NFT music platform Mint Songs via Napster Ventures as the company aims to delve into Web3.
Not only will the acquisition see the company enter the nascent Web3 space, but it will work on Mint Songs to allow artists to convert their songs into NFTs and create exclusive art for fans across the world.
Jon Vlassopulos, CEO of Napster commented, “We are in an unprecedented era of innovation in the digital music space and it feels like there have been more music startups formed in the last two to three years than in the previous 20. It’s inspiring to see so many talented teams pushing to create a music ecosystem that is better for artists and fans.”
Web3 music
To incorporate Mint Songs’ strategy, Napster has hired former Head of Product Nate Pham to lead the company’s Web3 product initiatives and has also hired former Mint Songs co-founder and CTO Garrett Hughes to serve as an adviser.
Hughes hailed Napster as the, “Partner that could take what we’ve built over the last two years” and continue to realize Mint Songs’ aim to create “deep, engaging and innovative ways for artists to connect with fans that also offer them an opportunity to monetize that fandom.”
Speaking with CoinDesk, Hughes added, “There’s actually a lot of synergy between the two companies as Mint Songs focused on establishing relationships with a wide variety of artists, who all have varying audiences of listeners on the Napster platform. The introduction of collectibles and other Web3-based features will help artists engage with fans in more engaging ways while simultaneously offering new revenue streams to artists.”
After it was shut down more than 20 years ago due to multiple lawsuits, Napster has been revived as a more ‘official’ streaming service and is looking to lead in the Web3 and metaverse space.
Mint Songs previously raised $4.3 million from investors including Freestyle Capital and Castle Island Ventures and worked with top Web3 artists like Gramatik, Mark de Clive-Lowe, and Black Dave among many others to offer exclusive NFT items.
Isa Muhammad is a writer and video game journalist covering many aspects of entertainment media including the film industry. He's steadily writing his way to the sharp end of journalism and enjoys staying informed. If he's not reading, playing video games or catching up on his favourite TV series, then he's probably writing about them.
