New Web3 music ventures are making a few waves in crypto this week. Major investor Animoca Brands has joined together with Pixelynx, while Warner Music, Polygon and LGND have formed an NFT music enterprise of their own.

Let’s start with the blockchain gaming, metaverse and NFT-focused industry titan Animoca Brands. It’s just announced it’s taken a majority stake in the Los Angeles-based music and gaming metaverse startup Pixelynx, adding to an already huge cache of investments across the crypto-gaming, metaversal and Web3 entertainment space.

Founded by electronic music industry pros Richie Hawtin (aka Plastikman) and Joel Zimmerman (aka deadmau5), among others, Pixelynx already has quite a wide presence across five countries and aims to “blur the lines between music, blockchain and gaming”, according to its website.

“We are building a global network of artists, visionaries and startups that are passionate about re-imagining how the music industry evolves through Web 3.0 and the metaverse,” the site proclaims.

A Cointelegraph article on the subject today noted that global music revenue is expected to reach US$131 billion by 2030, according to research conducted by Goldman Sachs (which, incidentally, is also in the crypto news for other intriguing reasons).

Big business, then – and if you believe the thesis that Web3 will end up superseding Web2, then startups such as Pixelynx (and LGND, further below) could very well stand to profit.

Co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, Yat Siu said:  “Pixelynx is one of the new wave of companies that are paving novel pathways for the music industry amid a major technological shift from centralised to decentralised ownership.

“We are thrilled to welcome Pixelynx to the growing family of Animoca Brands and we look forward to helping to shape the forefront of the music industry while building new and innovative experiences for people around the world.”

Pixelynx CEO Inder Phull added: “Animoca Brands has established itself as a dominant player in building the shared vision of an open metaverse.

“This deal marks the beginning of a new era in the music industry in which Web3, gaming, and transmedia content will unlock new formats, revenue streams, and business models that support artists, fans, and labels.”

 

Warner Brothers + LGND + Polygon = tokenised sounds

In another announcement made today, Warner Music Group revealed that the Web3 platform it’s partnered with – LGND Music – will officially launch in January 2023.
The Ethereum-compatible Polygon (MATIC) network is the base blockchain for LGND, which is essentially an online marketplace that offers songs as NFTs.

LGND is set up so that fans will be able to buy the music NFTs and listen to them through the platform itself, along with other digital collectibles from a variety of musicians signed to Warner Music labels.

One of those is Spinnin Records, and per the announcement, the launch of the platform will be accompanied by a collaboration with the electronic dance music label.  Spinnin’ Records has released tracks from artists including David Guetta, Tiesto, R3HAB, and Robin Shultz.

Polygon Studios CEO Ryan Wyatt said in a statement that Polygon’s partnership with WMG and LGND is an “exciting milestone for the music industry,” adding:

“The way that we own and experience music is evolving, by fully embracing decentralized technologies and collectibles.”

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