Mastercard Launches Web3 NFTs to Support Emerging Musicians

Mastercard says that the payments giant has started issuing non-fungible tokens (NFTs) that give entry to the Mastercard Artist Accelerator program, which is meant to help new artists. The NFT project partnered with Polygon and shows Mastercard wants to use Web3 technologies.

Mastercard Unveils New Web3 NFT

In January, Mastercard and Polygon announced they would work together to help new artists through a Mastercard Artist Accelerator program at the NFT. NYC meeting, the company showed off the NFTs that give people access to this program. “People who like music and Web3 can redeem Mastercard Music Pass NFT until the end of the month,” the company said on Wednesday.

The payments giant didn’t say which artists would be part of the program when it was announced because they still needed to be picked. Young Athena, an R&B soul singer from the United States; Manu Manzu, a singer from Venezuela; LeriQ, a pop star from Nigeria; Emily Vu; and Cocoa Sarai, a West Indian hip-hop/pop-soul act, are the chosen artists. According to the payments giant, these musicians will receive assistance from five experts and have access to a Warpsound AI-run music studio.

Mastercard Music Pass NFT Deadline

Mastercard’s statement said, “[The artists can] jumpstart their content creation, get mentorship, and learn how to use blockchain to make money from their work and build a fan community within the Web3 environment.” Fans have until the end of this month to use the Mastercard Music Pass NFT. This is the company’s second NFT since June 2022, when it worked with Moonpay, Nifty Gateway, Candy Digital, The Sandbox, Immutable X, Spring, and Mintable to give users NFTs.

Raja Rajamannar, Mastercard’s president and chief marketing and communications officer, said the company aims to help people and partners worldwide learn more about blockchain and digital assets and show how Mastercard technology can enable this environment. “We also think that Web3 has the power to bring people together and help them build communities around their shared interests,” the Mastercard official said.