Former Warner CEO Steve Cooper joins the board of Quincy Jones-backed NFT platform OneOf

Warner Music Group’s former chief executive Steve Cooper has joined the board of consumer Web3 company OneOf.

The appointment follows Cooper’s successful tenure as WMG’s longest-serving CEO (until 31 January).

Cooper joined WMG in August 2011 following the company’s acquisition of Access Industries in an all-cash transaction valued at $3.3 billion. At the time, he was described as a corporate “turnaround guru” who was able to save struggling companies from Krispy Kreme to energy company Enron.

Cooper’s decade-plus run at WMG saw several acquisitions, including 300 Entertainment (US), Qanawat (Middle East) and Africori (Sub Sahara), as well as nine-figure catalog deals with stars such as David Bowie and David Guetta.

He was also at the helm of Warner when the company went public on NASDAQ in 2020.

Having handed over control of WMG to the major’s new chief executive, Robert Kyncl, Cooper now brings a wealth of experience in innovation, M&A, operations and finance to guide OneOf, the latter said in a statement on Wednesday (Feb 15).

OneOf said Cooper helped WMG embrace streaming and Web3 technologies, with partnerships and investments across a portfolio of startups and tech giants. Cooper’s addition to OneOf’s board came about a year after the company partnered with Warner Music Group to help create exclusive NFTs for WMG artists.

With Cooper leading WMG, the label accelerated its NFT and Web3 push. In addition to OneOf, WMG also entered into partnerships with, among others, the digital collectibles platform Blockparty, the virtual game world The Sandbox and the avatar technology company Genies.

OneOf, a Web3 company and NFT marketplace founded by tech entrepreneurs Lin Dai, head of digital media Joshua Jamesand music industry veteran Adam fellin collaboration with Quincy Jones and Quincy Jones Productions, claim that their “Green NFT Platform” creates NFTs that are up to “2 million times more energy efficient” than the competition.

It raised more than $8 million in strategic funding in August 2022, bringing its total funding to over $72 million. In 2021, it attracted $63 million in a seed round from tech and music industry veterans.

The platform’s backers include Amex Ventures, Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact and Innovation Fund, Snow Hill Ventures, Sangha Capital, Chain Link Crypto Fund, VC Bill Tais Actai Unicorn Fund, Galaxy Digital, Nima Capital, Sangha Capital, Recharge Capital, Andromeda Capital, Sanctor Capital, and the Tezos Foundation, among others.

“OneOf has an amazing team and deep expertise in providing next-generation Web3 technology to businesses and brands. I look forward to serving on OneOf’s board of directors to help guide and accelerate their growth.”

Steve Cooper

OneOf has worked with companies such as Warner Music Group, Brave, Uber and more. In 2021, it launched a consumer-facing Web3 marketplace that has become home to digital collectibles from the world’s biggest artists, athletes and brands, including Doja Cat, The Notorious BIG, Whitney Houston, Muhammad Ali, Wayne Gretsky, Sports Illustrated, American Express, Anheuser – Busch, JBL, Harman Kardon, Gatorade, Snapple and many more.

The company claims to connect 100 million consumers to brands and creators. The platform allows consumers – with no prior crypto expertise – to collect or trade digital assets.

Last January, OneOf entered into a “first-of-its-kind preferred partnership” with WMG to create exclusive NFTs for WMG artists.

OneOf added that its “2-minute no-crypto-knowledge needed” Web3 CRM technology helped onboard millions of non-crypto-native consumers across platforms.

“OneOf has an amazing team and deep expertise in delivering next-generation Web3 technology to businesses and brands.”

Steve Cooper

Commenting on his appointment to OneOf’s board, Cooper said: “I am excited about how technology can reshape the future of music, entertainment and business models for many industries.”

“OneOf has an amazing team and deep expertise in providing next-generation Web3 technology to businesses and brands. I look forward to serving on OneOf’s board of directors to help guide and accelerate their growth.”

OneOf’s founder and CEO, Lin Dai, added: “We are delighted to welcome Steve to join our board and management team.”

“Web3 will revolutionize how brands connect with the consumers of the future. Steve’s expertise across music, entertainment and consumer brands is the perfect addition to OneOf’s leadership team.”

Lin Dai, OneOf

“Web3 will revolutionize how brands connect with the consumers of the future. Steve’s expertise across music, entertainment and consumer brands is the perfect addition to OneOf’s leadership team. With his guidance, we look forward to furthering our mission to lower the barriers to entry to Web3 for businesses and consumers alike.”

Last year, Cooper told analysts during a WMG earnings call that the use of Web3 will reinforce the importance of labels and publishers.

“Web3 represents an exciting future for the music industry that will help our artists reach millions upon millions of new fans in interesting and innovative ways,” Cooper said at the time.

“Blockchain Technology, The Perils of Navigating Crypto [and] the skills required to manage distributed autonomous organizations will require organizations like ours that have the financial resources [and] the intellectual capital.”

“By that I mean the specific skill sets and global footprint to be able to help our artists and songwriters not only navigate through this brave new world, or brave new universe, but successfully navigate to optimize their presence in the world of Web3 and to optimize their revenue options and their revenue options inside Web3,” Cooper added.

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