Snowcrash, a startup centered on the Solana blockchain, announced Sony Music and Universal Music Group (UMG) will be an integral part of their upcoming platform, which plans to release Bob Dylan and Miles Davis in the coming months.

In 2020, UMG spent close to $400 million on Bob Dyan's song catalog, while Sony paid close to $150 million for his recorded music rights last year.

Now, the two titans are collaborating on Snowcrash, a new NFT trading platform co-founded by Dylan and his son, filmmaker Jesse Dylan. Snowcrash's other co-founders are entertainment executives Jeff Rosen and Walter De Brouwer, a "pioneer" in financial engineering, decentralized finance, and NFTs.

Solana-based NFT marketplaces like Solanart and Solea will compete with Snowcrash. Last month, OpenSea, the largest NFT marketplace, only offers NFTs minted on the Ethereum and Polygon blockchains.

Sony Music's president of global digital business, Dennis Kooker, stated that Sony Music intends to collaborate with Snowcrash to, “develop a range of opportunities for our recording artists with a focus on delivering accessible, user-friendly experiences for both creators and fans.”

According to Snowcrash's website, Web 3.0 will push machines to play a prominent role in the future.

Snowcrash claims that its work extends beyond its own NFT storefront and that one such initiative is already underway. Snowcrash recently partnered with UNICEF on NFTs commemorating the organization's 75th anniversary, leveraging a long-standing relationship with Jesse Dylan-founded Wondros.

NFTs are one-of-a-kind tokens that can be found on a blockchain like Ethereum or Solana. NFTs have attracted the attention of the music industry as a means of monetizing artists and content, with musicians such as Steve Aoki, Dolly Parton, 3lau, and Kings of Leon creating NFT-focused brands.

Pavan A

CBW - External Analyst

INDIA