Being a musician or artist can be very difficult in this day and age.
We've all heard the stories about producers or signing agents 'screwing' the artists over, not being transparent about paperwork, stealing money and ownership, etc.
There have also been problems with copyright issues and artists not making any money because of royalty payments and other expenses, despite doing most of the work.
One of the biggest opportunities for these artists, through blockchain, is to create direct relationships with their fans. They would be able to produce a song and send it straight to the consumers without having the 'middlemen.'
This is great because one, this lowers their expenses/gives them a greater financial return and allows for more transparency by not having other parties distributing their music. These other parties are brick-and-mortar stores, streaming platforms, producers, etc. Because with these, they would have to go through fees, regulations, paperwork, etc. just to get their music to people.
So, how would an artist go about using a blockchain to mitigate these risks?
First, they would have to either create or produce their music on a blockchain of their choice. There could be a streaming service that is built on a blockchain. Having your music produced and streamed through a blockchain automatically eliminates the need for these middlemen.
They would then be able to create what is called a 'smart contract.' This contract is one that is created by the artist that can explain what they are doing and who is given rights to the thing. This allows a more direct relationship with their listeners.
The artists would also be able to get paid directly by the fans instead of only getting a 'cut' or percentage of the money after everyone else at the label is paid.
Another way a blockchain could change the industry is by protecting IP and ownership rights. These including:
- Patents
- Copyrights
- Trademarks
- Music Licensing
- Artistic Works
- Names
- Symbols & Images
These days, it is easy for people to steal or hack content. But if this content was to be put on a blockchain, it would be virtually impossible for it to be stolen or susceptible to fraud in any way. This way, things like illegal downloads would not be an issue.
The blockchain would be able to correctly identify who the music belongs to and what rights they have with it.
There are many companies already that have taken advantage of the possibilities of blockchain in this industry. Some of these companies are:
- Digimarc
- Vezt Inc.
- Mediachain
- OPUS
- Viberate
and so many more.
Many famous artists have also been using blockchain technology and it is a rapidly growing topic within this space. There have been many advances in it so far, but this is only the beginning!
Agree, the blockchain has a lot of potential in the music industry. Though, what I see around in this space is that it doesn't stop at bypassing all the middlemen by using blockchain tech to publish own created music. All the tasks done in the 'traditional' chains, are all necessary to be discovered. That is something easily forgotten by quite a few artists using blockchain tech-based services these days. At least, that is what I see quite a lot. In your list, I'm missing the usual suspects for musicians like Audius? ;)