Mastercard partners with Polygon to help artists build personal brands through NFT and metaverse. The Mastercard Artist Accelerator Program will be live from spring 2023.
Global payments giant Mastercard has renewed its commitment to blockchain technology after announcing a polygon-based accelerator program designed to help musicians build their careers via Web3.
The company announced its Mastercard Artist Accelerator program in a blog post, outlining that starting this spring it will match five aspiring musicians from around the world with mentors who will help them grow in the Web3 music space.
The post highlights that artists get exclusive access to special events, music releases, and more. The first-of-its-kind course will teach artists how to build (and own) their brands through Web3 experiences like casting NFTS, representing themselves in virtual worlds, and building engaging communities. The program will conclude later in the year with a live artist presentation.
Mastercard is also introducing a series of non-fungible tokens (NET) called “Mastercard Music Pass” for those not selected to participate in the program. The goal is to provide owners with educational materials and “unique resources” through brand partnerships to help aspiring musicians understand Web3’s integration into the music landscape.
Mastercard Artist Accelerator Program Part of the Web3 Expansion
Mastercard is one of the leading brands in the payment processing industry. There are rumors that Web3 will disrupt the payments industry and force industry giants like Visa and Mastercard out of business. This is extra motivation as these companies are not creating products that match today’s trends.
Mastercard announced partnering with Paxos in October of last year to provide bitcoin trading for conventional finance. Similar to this, the payment provider teamed up with Binance in August to provide a prepaid crypto rewards card.
Visa, a competitor business, is likewise attempting to expand on and profit from Web3 space. It collaborated with JP Morgan last year to use blockchain to streamline international payments. The most recent proposal to enable Ethereum holders to set up programmable payments from their own self-custodial wallets was revealed by Visa in December.
