How blockchain could help musicians make a living from music
In the decade and a half since Napster, it is increasingly difficult for musicians to make a living, at least from recorded music. Falling CD sales, illegal downloads, lower payments flowing from legal music platform, and a shift towards buying single tracks rather than whole albums all played their part.
More recently, a number of projects the music industry has turned to a particular technology as a possible solution to this problem. This includes the mycelia, launched by singer, songwriter and producer Imogen Heap, and Dot Blockchain Music, launched by the founder of PledgeMusic Benji Rogers. Then there Oku Music, Blokur, Aurovine, resonate, Peertracks, Stem and Bittunes, which had already claimed users in 70 countries. What connects these projects is that they are all based on blockchain.
Blockchain is software that supports Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. Consisting of cryptographic data blocks are chained together in chronological order, it has two key features. It is eternal: the data can not be modified. And it is distributed rather than centralized: many copies appropriately maintained independently of each other https://cryptolivereview.blogspot.com/2020/06/the%20cry.html.
Blockchain technology has been touted as the answer to the problems facing industries as diverse as banking, diamond trading, online gambling and fashion – even how we organize society. How is it possible to help a musician?
The first problem faced by musicians down to the fact that there is no comprehensive database of music copyright ownership exist. There are several databases, but does not include every song there, and when the track appears in more than one database details are not always suitable. blockchain, like Vinay Gupta put it in a recent speech, is good databases and networks. If the music copyright information stored in blockchain, through a cryptographic digital fingerprint (such as a barcode), and up-to-date information can be accessed by all users, not detained by a particular gatekeeper.
The second problem is the payment. Listeners can access the track instantly with a click, but according to reports Rethink Music can take years for royalties to reach those who are responsible for making music. smart contract, implemented on blockchain through software, can split the royalties in proportion agreed upon as soon as the track is downloaded or streamed. micropayment like it may not be feasible with the current system, but the system is built around using cryptocurrencies like bitcoin could facilitate payments within a fraction of a penny.
Shining light into the black box
Third, the mechanisms that royalties are calculated and paid are often opaque. Some of the revenue ends up in a “black box” outside the reach of the artists and songwriters to whom it properly belongs. In the culture of confidentiality agreements and non-disclosure, artists (or their managers) can not properly audit their payments if they are not sure how much they are due.
Funding the future
The last issue is cash, is required upfront to help musicians create new music. It is often said that artists no longer need record labels, but the necessary funds to compete commercially – and which is still usually means the support of a major label, especially one of the three remaining “majors”: Sony, Universal and Warner.
Transparency at blockchain technology can help attract new donors, including investors are put off by the difficulty in seeing a clear route to profitability for musicians. It could also see the emergence of “artist accelerator” similar to that provided for technology start-ups, in which early support in the stock appreciated by future income, monitored and paid automatically through smart contract. The same transparency and traceability can push crowdfunding, with artists issuing shares to cash against future earnings.