Music streaming service Napster is betting big on the potential of web3 technology and digital music to be a fundamental part of its future.
In September last year, the company re-launched under the leadership of former Roblox music executive Jon Vlassopulos as CEO. As part of their new direction, they have acquired Mint Songs—an NFT marketplace that helps musicians establish web3 communities and issue exclusive art for avid fans to possess and trade.
Though financial details of the agreement were not made available, Mint Songs co-founder and CTO Garrett Hughes will remain to aid Napster with integrating Mint Song’s technology onto their platform. In addition, he will extend his knowledge to Napster as they continue developing products that were once part of the original Mint Songs plans. The former head of product, Nate Pham, joins Napster to lead web3 projects forward.
Mint Songs has already raised a substantial sum of $4.3 million from investors, including Freestyle Capital and Castle Island Ventures, and collaborated with renowned artists such as Gramatik, Mark de Clive-Lowe, and Black Dave to launch exclusive NFT products.
Vlassopulos said that the digital music space is in an unprecedented era of innovation, 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 many talented teams pushing to create a better music ecosystem for artists and fans. Garrett and team have done groundbreaking work helping thousands of artists get their start in web3, reach their fans in new creative ways through collectibles, and unlock significant new revenue streams.”
Jon Vlassopulos
Vlassopulos went on to say that in the coming months, artist collectibles will be available on Napster
According to Vlassopulos, Napster is committed to providing its fans with the ultimate experience. It will now offer collectibles as rewards or purchases for those who engage deeply with their favorite artists. With hundreds of thousands of artist storefronts already being visited by Napster users across the globe daily, Vlassopulos said that adding these unique collectible items only enhances an existing fan experience. We are thrilled about this new development.
With his appointment as CEO, Vlassopulos wasted no time demonstrating the potential of Napster Ventures by executing its first deal, which is the acquisition of Mint Songs.
Napster is delighted to be a primary player in the world of music web3, and acquiring Mint Songs is an amazing preliminary action. According to Matt Zhang, Founder and Managing Partner of Hivemind—which was responsible for buying Napster last year— integrating Napster’s continuous progress with Minst Song’s technology IPs and specialized knowledge will help cultivate advancement in web3 within the music industry.
