Last week's announcement of a partnership between Warner Music Group and Splinterlands is exciting for both parties...
The news prompted a flood of online stories including this one from CoinMarketCap...
Splinterlands And Warner Partner To Make New Blockchain Game
Warners & the Town Hall
Yesterday's Splinterlands Town Hall added more information with Warners' Jaia Jaguar joining the call to flesh out Warner's plans a little. Warners are keen to generate value for their artist rosta and connect music fans with new mechanisms.
She mentioned that despite social media - it is increasingly difficult to communicate with the fan base and the use of blockchain tech will enable this. As well as adding new revenue streams for WMG artists and songwriters, it will also give value back to an engaged & influential community of fans.
Which WMG artists will be chosen to work with Splinterlands has yet to be decided but will include those keen to investigate the sector - 'crypto-curious artists'
Listen to Jaia Jaguar in the Town Hall
Warner Web3 Investments
Warners (WMG) are no strangers to web3 and blockchain tech having been early adopters in the space before...
In 2019 they invested in CryptoKitties creator Dapper Labs. (CryptoKitties Creator Raises $11 Million from Warner, A16z)
This was actually and investment in the creation of the FLOW blockchain (FLOW), being developed as 'a fast, secure, and developer-friendly blockchain built to support the next generation of games, apps, and the digital assets that power them'.
FLOW has an impressive list of partnerships...
This may mean that Warner is not interested in developing on HIVE or that they have moved on from FLOW or that they're bolstering their presence in the web3 space...I'll come back to this.
In 2021 WMG partnered with Genies “the world’s largest avatar technology company” and have built avatars for the likes of Justin Bieber, Shawn Mendes, Rihanna, Migos, Cardi B, J Balvin, and many more.
Warner Music Group Partners with Genies to Develop Avatars & NFTs for WMG Artists
Why Splinterlands?
So why would the massive Warner Music Group want to link with Splinterlands?
There are lots of reasons...
- Splinterlands is currently THE most played blockchain game;
- Splinterlands team have vast experience of blockchain gaming & economy [a very rare thing];
- Splinterlands have coped with huge scaling issues with massive increase in player base;
- Splinterlands have rapidly expanding team of developers;
- Splinterlands well funded (good income from Chaos Legion sales);
- Splinterlands have vision;
Summary
The WMG / Splinterlands tie-up is intriguing. In Splinterlands, Warners have chosen a early moving innovator in blockchain gaming space who have already seen many others crash & burn and have a successful game with a large player-base and crucial experience of the blockchain gaming area.
It shows both are very early in the space and both keen to push the boundaries of the tech.
It will be exciting to see what evolves...
Useful Links
Warner Music Group Partnership Announcement!
WARNER STRIKES ‘FIRST-OF-ITS-KIND’ DEAL WITH BLOCKCHAIN GAMING DEVELOPER SPLINTERLANDS
Warner Music Group talks startups, technology and investment