Heading up the program is director of marketing and communications, Raja Rajamannar. Tools like NFT, he told Ad Age at CES, can help artists achieve scale at critical moments in their career. That’s why the accelerator will kick off in the spring with a Music Pass NFT, allowing fans to learn alongside artists through educational materials and metaverse experiences.

The idea that Web3 offers a more democratized system for creators has been a major selling point for various projects and investments. But a year of experimentation has shown that it is not that simple. Creator royalties on NFT sales, for example, came into question last fall when markets abruptly stopped honoring them. As with many applications based on blockchain technology, royalties are difficult to enforce, especially when they hurt the profits of young companies.

Rajamannar views established companies establishing trustworthy partnerships as a solution to this problem. For its accelerator, Mastercard partnered with Polygon Studios, a subsidiary of the company that founded the Polygon blockchain, which will help develop the technical side of the program. Together, the two entities will enforce royalties, Rajamannar said, a promise Mastercard can afford to make given its strength as a business.