Warner Music Group has signed a partnership with avatar platform Genies to create avatars on the Flow blockchain based on their artists. In addition fans can expect digital wearables based on their favorite artists, which users can acquire starting this Summer from the newly announced Genies NFT Marketplace.
Akash Nigam, the CEO of Genies, called the partnership the first of its kind, and definitely not the last. “Cultural icons and figures are some of the most expressive people on earth and they should not be constrained by real world limitations”, he said in an official statement.
Warner Music hasn’t revealed which artists will join the Genies program. However, singers like Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Jason Derulo, Rita Ora and Wiz Khalifa are obviously a perfect fit.
Genies launching on Flow
Right now you can download the Genies app on your phone and get items from the Drop Shop. These are limited edition items, but they are not on the blockchain. Starting from this summer, you will be able to buy digital clothes for your Genies characters from the NFT marketplace on the Flow blockchain. These can be distributed by Genies themselves, or in partnership with a creator, influencers, or celebrity.
Genies is a project that’s all about personal avatars in the metaverse. They started as a project aimed at celebrities only, but they are now scaling up to allow everybody to make their own Genies character. Every Genie comes with a starter pack of clothing. But you don’t want to be basic, so you need to get some cool wearables.
They also partnered with Giphy, so you can use your Genies in a wide variety of social media platforms.
What are Genies?
Genies exists one the edge between virtual and physical realities. This allows celebrities and other people to create a digital character that represents them online in the metaverse. These virtual representations can take on jobs that don’t require the actual individual to do anything on location. Last year Justin Bieber already used his Genies avatar to announce the launch of his Christmas album on Amazon Music, while we’ve also seen Rihanna.
However, Genies aren’t only for famous people. They are for everyone. Genies is using the Flow blockchain to give users ownership over avatars and digital fashion. Projects like Genies are likely to find a bigger audience in the years to come. With the rise of virtual worlds, having an online personality is becoming more important every day. Everybody can be an influencer, but influencers do need to look good when they walk around in the virtual world.
Genies isn’t the only project tackling this problem. Crypto Avatars is doing something similar, as they are working on creating open standards for visual representation of individuals in the metaverse. They recognize that people don’t just want to be a character, they want this character to be an extension of the image they want to portray in a particular virtual world. Digital identity is more than just an avatar!
