The need for Web 3.0 keeps growing each day. This is something that is becoming more evident as time passes.
Many of us are aware about the censoring campaign that established social media embarks upon periodically. Every few months we see content creators with large followings having their accounts mysteriously closed down. Often the reason is not evident.
Web 3.0 solves this problem by giving people the ability to control their own account. There is no way to close down an account or delete the data once it is on the blockchain. The immutability is something that many will consider once the applications are there for people to use.
However, there is another arena where content creators are being screwed over. This is coming from another set of traditional Web 2.0 companies.
Source
The Change In The Music Industry
Many are aware the music business was always one of the nastiest that existed. Whatever people think about bankers, they are school kids compared to the executives at record companies. When we discuss the presence of "gatekeepers", this industry is full of them.
With the expansion of the Internet, we saw a paradigm shift. The introduction of Napster really caused a lot of fallout for the record companies. Suddenly, there was a new distribution model, that was free. The illegal file sharing of music is something that cannot be stopped even to this day.
This caused the record companies to have to adapt. Apple was in the ideal position to offer them a deal to get some of the revenues back. While it did accomplish that, the record companies lost money on recorded music for more than 15 years. They had to make it on with concert tours.
Of course, Apple, and eventually other major tech companies, made out like bandits. They were able to cut stronger deals as their distributions channels grew. The popularity of Spotify and Pandora cannot be overlooked. They also started going direct to artists.
Cutting Royalties
All of this comes down to leverage. Whether it is with the record or tech companies, artists have a major problem. They have very little leverage. The platforms have all the power since the musician needs access to the distribution channel. Without it, their reach is rather limited.
The result, over the years, is they are asked to take a smaller piece. The rates paid out go lower and lower. This is no different than what the likes of Google do, constantly reducing their payout to content creators for the clicks they generate.
With the musicians, it is time for another haircut according to Pandora, Spotify, and Amazon. They are not keen on keeping the royalty rate up.
Every few years, there are negotiations about establishing the rates. This includes the mega-tech platforms along with the National Music Publishers Association. We can guess which direction the platforms want to take the royalty rates covering the next period in discussion.
For the upcoming Phonorecords IV term, the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA) had sought an increase in the headline rate to 20% of a digital service’s revenue. Instead, Spotify, Amazon, and Pandora have proposed lowering the rate to pre-2018 levels, with headline rates close to 10.5%.
Not surprisingly, legal action is also involved as there is a case before an appeals court. However, the technology companies defended their actions.
The Digital Media Association (DiMA) defended the lower rates, pointing out that streamers needed “billions of dollars invested into catalogs,” in order to be competitive, and arguing that an expanding listener base would lead to more revenue that would eventually trickle down.
Ironic they use the term "trickle down" since it was proven over the last 40 years the ineffectiveness of that economic model. Nevertheless, it is smart to utilize it since it does benefit those who are at the top. In this case, the technology companies would eat up a bigger portion of the revenues (and profits).
Web 3.0 Changes This
Here we can see a clear pathway of how Web 3.0 can alter this. While the specifics are cloudy due to the fact the applications are not developed, we are aware of the framework this can operate under.
Web 3.0 applications can host the content in a manner whereby the musician can control the product. The fanbase can offer the ability to host said content. Through the tokenization process, rewards for supporting activities can be distributed. This gives the fans a "piece of the action" while also breeding a more loyal following.
The artist, of course, is able to fully benefit from the sale of his/her/their material. We see the removal of the gatekeepers since they are no longer needed. The community can grow through the viral spread via "word of mouth". Naturally, the community has a vested interest in this since they do have a financial stake if holding the tokens.
Being a token holder could also provide a host of benefits. For example, those who have a large stake might get early access to all new music rolling out. It also could be coupled with backstage passes at concerts. The artists' token would be the main currency for the ecosystem.
As time goes by, we see how the solutions we are discussing are finding greater needs. There is little doubt the market exists for applications to provide a different distribution and economic model. What is presently taking place in the siloed system is not working for most.
Here is where Web 3.0 enters the picture. With more people being screwed over by Web 2.0, the need is only increasing with each passing day. For this reason, we need to keep developing solutions that provides an alternative model to all that is taking place.
We have the ability to pull this off. Fortunately, when the market is large enough, the rewards will be great. Therefore, there is enormous economic incentive for us all to keep things moving forward.
Not only are well looking to make the pie larger, we seek to distribute the financial benefits in a radically new way. The demise of the gatekeepers cannot come soon enough.
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A million thanks for the heads up Brozay! 💯💎🤟🏼
Wow. To bad it takes so long for things to change. But it will come. And all of us will be better off. This is just one more example of how web 3.0 is and will change the world for the better.
!BBH
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It is needed on so many different levels. We are just starting to see how badly the system screws people over.
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No doubt about that
Rocki.app - NFT streaming.
I still reading about it
but web 3.0 is making the internet more better and give people more trust
Have you heard of Audius?
Check out rocki.app .
No I havent.
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It’s a decentralized music streaming platform that rewards both the artist and the listeners I think. It has its own token
It will be interesting to see how this music industry thing works out. They the music business has always had a hard when it comes to making changes. When they fought Napster, it just made people mad and a lot went to the underground. Which hurt the music artists. Thanks for a very interesting post.
The music business was always cutthroat that is for sure. We will see how it all unfolds. Hopefully we see some kick ass DApps developed that can really help musicians.
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It would be great to see the demise of the gate keepers as the artists do deserve the bulk of the rewards. I hope this happens quickly as there are too many leeches around screwing others over.
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They are not going to go quietly. We know that.
Hopefully Web 3.0 can emerge rapidly and help the artists out.
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Working with Music artists myself I know how hard things have gotten and continue to get. Before more revenue for many smaller time music artists was merch, live shows(which has transitioned to streaming and in some cases has made more money than live shows) very little of that ever came from streaming services in terms of Spotify etc. The amount per play is so stupid trashy it's honestly worthless unless you plan on getting 100,000 plays+ at least.
However with those changes there are simply new possibilities. As stated live streaming on your computer can become a new very profitable way to earn revenue. Writing behind the scenes things here on Hive etc could be lucrative. What I'd like to see is a crypto version of Onlyfans/ Patreon. I'm unsure if any exist at the moment. Could be a awesome hive/HBD project ;)
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Many of these gatekeepers are vile specifically as it pertains to the music business. Just ask Sean Parker what happens when you try and disrupt their honey pot. Hopefully the artists can get their just due utilizing blockchain. And this time these execs won’t have anyone to sue…
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When big money is involved, things can get dirty.
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This is why I think NFTs will be good for the music industry. For example Rising Star allows people to people to mint their own album NFTs. You can play the music if you have the album. Now the musicians make the bulk of the profits and you remove the gatekeeper. Of course you still need to pay the minting and marketplace fee.
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All of this can be of help. We just need to see some applications developed that tie a lot of it together. Still seems rather fragmented to me.
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Because this is such an awesome post, here is a BBH Tip for you.
. Keep up the fantastic work
It's time for people to know about web 3.0
I'm glad you pointed out the irony of the term "trickle down". That was a flag for me, too.
I think if there were a compendium of words and phrases that always means the opposite of the message they're used to convey this one would be top 5, maybe 10, somewhere behind war is peace and slavery is freedom style rhetoric.
I'm not a violent person... in fact I border on passive, but I still wish it was ok to punch someone in the mouth when they use it to spew bullshit all in my ears. You never really get it all out.
Thanks so much for this enlightenment..
Very encouraging..
Thanks for pointing this out. These issues are exactly why a friend of mine distribute his music on zeptagram
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