Warner Music, Polygon Labs Launch Blockchain Music Accelerator

By Sander Lutz

Further committing to blockchain-based initiatives, Warner Music Group announced Wednesday that it has formed a new music accelerator program in partnership with Polygon Labs that seeks to bolster decentralized music-related apps and projects built on the Polygon network.

The program will specifically seek out projects operating at the intersection of music and the blockchain. Some examples of top priorities for Warner and Polygon purportedly include companies attempting to create new mechanisms for the decentralized distribution of music, those focused on fostering artist-fan communities, those building on-chain ticketing solutions, and those exploring music-related collectible merchandise. Successful projects in those areas would ideally operate on the Polygon blockchain.

The program will accept applications on a rolling basis. Projects accepted into the program will receive funding both from Warner Music and Polygon Labs, as well as access to the networks of both organizations in the form of mentorship, strategic advising, and assistance with marketing and promotion.

“WMG is focused on enabling its artists and songwriters to build, activate, engage and monetize their communities in this next era of music creation and consumption,” Oana Ruxandra, Warner Music’s Chief Digital Officer and EVP, Business Development, said in a statement.

Over the past two years, Warner Music has aggressively pursued partnerships and pilot programs with numerous blockchain-native companies, including NFT marketplace OpenSea, Polygon-based NFT music platform LGND Music, and metaverse platform The Sandbox, among others.

That interest in decentralization and other cutting-edge technologies only further solidified when Robert Kyncl, YouTube’s former chief business officer, joined Warner Music as the company’s new CEO in January. Kyncl, a noted technology advocate, has since emphasized that “new tech initiatives” will be central to Warner Music’s future. In March, when the company laid off 270 employees, all roles related to Web3 and AI initiatives were spared.

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