Back to the future – AOL, Lycos, CaraMail, … The evocation of these names sends us directly back to a reality that those under 20 don’t imagine. In the year 2000, the internet arrived in force in French households and a private-to-private service was revealed: Napster. Today, more than two decades later, Napster is about to be reborn from its ashes in a Web3 under construction. The company wants to position itself as an important player in the music sector in the years to come and just redeem Mint Songs.
The star of the year 2000 returns 20 years later
Okay! We exaggerate a bit because Napster had not completely disappeared. But in fact, it is very difficult to exist facing the giants that are Spotify Or AppleMusic. The last time we heard of the Los Angeles company was last spring when it was acquired by Hivemind Capital and Algorand. At that time, it was about “revolutionizing the music industry once again”.
A year later, things are getting clearer and Napster has just announced the acquisition of Mint Songs which mixes NFT and music. Artists can use this platform to turn their music into NFT or to produce exclusive content for their fans on the Ethereum and Polygon networks. Jon Vlassopulosthe CEO of Napster, does not hide his enthusiasm in front of the possibilities to come:
“We are in an era of unprecedented innovation in the digital music space. And it seems there have been more music startups formed in the last two or three years than in the previous 20. (…) It’s inspiring to see so many talented teams striving to create a better musical ecosystem for artists and fans alike.”
Napster targets Web3 and acquires Mint Songs
In its first version at the turn of the millennium, Napster had the ambition to connect users without intermediaries. Today, the company is taking the turn of web3 and wants to help bring artists and the public together. For this, former leaders of Mint Songs will integrate the Napster teams in order to keep the spirit of the platform, but also its driving forces. This is how the former product manager, Nate Phamand former co-founder and chief technology officer, Garrett Hughes will continue their activities.
The latter welcomed the approach and was optimistic about the future:
“Napster will help us continue what we have been doing for two years with the same goals as Mint Song, which is to create deep, engaging and innovative ways to connect artists with their fans (…). The introduction of collectibles and other Web3-based features will help artists engage with fans, while providing new revenue streams for artists. »
We do not yet know the financial details of this takeover, but it is good Napster Ventures, a new entity dedicated to investing in Web3 start-ups, which carried out the operation. The music industry is slowly changing. After the era of streaming platforms, are we perhaps witnessing a new revolution in the sector? UniversalMusic And the Warner Music Group have already crossed the line.
