Five months after announcing that it had increased “eight numbers” financially as it doubles across the Web3 space, Napster said it had acquired Mint Songs, an NFT marketplace that helps music artists build Web3 communities.
Napster, which describes itself as “the oldest independent music streaming service provider in the world,” rent former Roblox Global Music Director Jon Vlassopulos as the new CEO in September 2022.
Vlassopulos, who was appointed to guide the company in Ambition Web3told MBW at the time that Napster plans to “use the same Metaverse playbook we created [at Roblox] and work with similar players to create new mainstream beacon examples that the Web3 music industry can adopt and follow.”
Most recently, Napster revealed on Wednesday (Feb 15) that it had acquired Mint Songs to use as the foundation for Napster’s Web3 services. The acquisition is the first deal made by the newly formed Napster Ventures, which was announced at the time of Vlassopulos’ appointment.
Napster Ventures will focus on promoting, investing in and acquiring “the best Web3 music startups,” said Napster, as it aims to accelerate its Web3 feature deployment plans. .
The acquisition follows Mint Songs’ $4.3 million raise from investors including Freestyle Capital and Castle Island risky. Mint Songs has previously worked with Web3 artists such as Gramatik, Mark de Clive-Lowe and Black Dave to provide exclusive NFT items.
In addition to helping artists build Web3 communities, Mint Songs — as the name suggests — also supports NFT minting artists and offers exclusive artwork for their fans to own and trade.
The company builds tools that allow artists to turn their creative assets into NFTs to sell or donate to their communities. The platform is built on Polygon, making NFTs on the platform carbon neutral at zero cost.
“As we look for a partner that can take over what we’ve built over the past two years and provide artists with a veritable marketplace for their assets, where millions of fans are works, it’s clear that Jon and Napster have the ultimate vision of bringing Web3 Music to the mainstream.
Garrett Hughes, Mint Song
Following Napster’s purchase of Mint Songs, Mint’s co-founder and CTO, Garrett Hughes, will continue to serve as an advisor. He will work closely with Vlassopulos on integrating Mint Songs technology into the Napster platform.
“As we look for a partner that can take over what we’ve built over the past two years and provide artists with a veritable marketplace for their assets, where millions of fans are works, it’s clear that Jon and Napster have a vision to finally bring Web3 Music to the mainstream,” Hughes said.
“Our goal has always been to create insightful, engaging, and creative ways for artists to connect with their fans and give them the opportunity to monetize that fandom. In contrast, we see demand from fans for a music service that doesn’t just deliver on-demand music and podcasts, which makes Napster’s ambitious goals all the more compelling,” Hughes said. said more.
Nate Pham, a former product manager for Mint Songs, will also join Napster to lead the team’s Web3 product initiatives. Before joining Mint Songs, Pham held a senior product role at Pandora and United Masters.
“Garrett and [the Mint Songs] the team has completed groundbreaking work helping thousands of artists get started on Web3, reaching their fans in creative new ways through collections and unlocking significant new revenue streams. .”
Jon Vlassopulos, Napster
“Garrett and [the Mint Songs] Vlassopulos says the team has completed groundbreaking work helping thousands of artists get started on Web3, reach their fans in creative new ways through collections, and unlock revenue streams. significant new revenue.
“We are in an era of unprecedented innovation in the digital music space, and it looks like there have been more music startups founded in the last two to three years than there have been 20 years ago. It’s inspiring to see so many talented teams working to create a better music ecosystem for artists and fans, and we’re excited to welcome one of the Web3 music startups. most impressive, Mint Songs, as the newest member of the Napster family.”
For Napster, their foray into Web3 marks another venture by the two-decade-old company that has been operating under different guises. Launched as a peer-to-peer digital audio sharing application, Napster is now increasing its focus on Web3 opportunities.
At the time of his appointment, Vlassopulos said it was just “the beginning of a huge multi-billion dollar market, so we do not rule out the possibility of raising a much larger round in 2023.” to drive growth and fund our acquisition to maintain a leadership position in this space.”
“We are delighted that Napster has become a central player in the Web3 music ecosystem and the acquisition,” said Matt Zhang, Founder and Managing Partner of Hivemind, who has led an investment consortium. Mint Songs is a great grounding step. gain Napster last year.
Zhang added: “The combination of Napster’s continued innovation supporting the existing platform, along with Mint Songs’ technological expertise and intellectual property, will help drive Web3 innovation for the music industry. music.
Outside of the music industry, Napster continues to work with brands including SFR, Telefonica, Sonos, Audacy, Univision, Aldi, Vivo, Rakuten, Huawei, RecoChoku, etc.
Global Music Business
