Sony’s “Entertainment Network”, Soneum, Goes Live

• Sony launched a layer 2 network on Ethereum to create an entertainment layer on top of a Web3 finance layer.
• The network is open to all creators and will protect creator rights while ensuring equitable value distribution between creators and consumers.

Sony, the media and Entertainment giant, has launched a layer 2 network on Ethereum called Soneum through its subsidiary, Sony Block Solutions Labs. The network is intended to use Web3 tech to power a digital creator economy.

The network, built using the OP stack (a blockchain development kit from the Optimism Foundation), will use chain abstraction technologies and methods to onboard regular users to Web3 without requiring them to understand the underlying tech.

Another important touchpoint for the Head of Sony BSL, Sota Watanabe, is the protection of IP rights. Soneum is built with mechanisms in place to protect these rights.

According to an X post by Watanabe, “We are making a home for all creators inside and outside of web3. Memecoins are an important culture, which I like as well, but IP infringement is not. Let’s create meme culture not infringing IP rights!”

We are making a home for all creators inside and outside of web3. Memecoins are an important culture, which I like as well, but IP infringement is not. Let's create meme culture not infringing IP rights!

— Sota Watanabe 💿 (@WatanabeSota) January 15, 2025

Unlike other major consumer brands whose engagement with Web3 is largely limited to NFTs , Sony is going beyond to provide an infrastructure for the next evolution of the creator economy.

Soneum also launched Spark, an incubator program that has selected 32 projects from a list of 1,700 that will debut on the new network.

While Soneum recently launched its mainnet, it logged over 14 million users during its testnet phase which lasted four months from August 2024 and logged over 50 million transactions.