One of the most exciting rifts Blockchain technology poses for the creative world is the emerging potential for it to revolutionise how musicians are paid and receive the fairer payment for their creative contributions. It’s no secret that the evolution of the way we listen to music is deeply flawed- since the development of music piracy has been all but nurtured to crisis point, it’s certainly time for things to change.
We started sharing music with peer-to-peer transactions over 20 years ago, with simple software apps that made it easy to exchange MP3 files. Soon, the popularity of this exchange blew up into millions of participants, spawning an avalanche of applications designed to share files from peer to peer- without that pesky ol’ issue of payment.
The proposed Blockchain tech proposes an opportunity for the music industry to be saved, with a tracking and validation outlook that would save the industry many millions of dollars per year in sending the consumer dollar in royalties to exactly where it belongs – the music makers.
There are, of course, significant challenges ahead. With zero global registry available of musical contributors in all the shapes and sizes they come in, how could we accurately assess who, and wherein the process of music creation- should the consumer dollar go? The task is all but overwhelming when we consider labels, producers, etc. But each stakeholder in the music industry stands to benefit from tightening the system; something Blockchain will comfortably demonstrate.
The biggest opportunity represented by Blockchain tech is the capacity it has to remove unneeded intermediaries. Examples of this include the popular streaming services ( think Spotify) that, while still flawed, are able to reserve percentages in order to properly conduct payment in the management journey. In alternative to these intermediaries, record-keeping and funds management would be automated and immutable. The result? Greater rights protection, better pay, and shorter waiting periods for artists.
To find out what a world where the consumption of music is fairer, it’s well worth checking out the decentralised music platform proposed by Potentiam. Potentiam touts itself as “ A music platform governed by the users where the rewards are distributed between all those that bring value to it, without the need for middlemen.”
The founders of Potentiam worked extensively in the music industry management sector for years, and were thus exposed to the spectrum of challenges normalised in the promotion and sales of contributions from emerging artists. They started with the inception of BRITZNBEATS in order to bring deserving musicians to the forefront of the industry in a fairer, less centralised manner. Potentiam was created in order to help primarily emerging artists earn a stronger foothold in a deeply flawed industry, where intermediaries are significantly reduced, and effectively so are costs. All this results in a vision that gives the public an opportunity to earn and benefit from the music industry, as opposed to blindly gobbling it up.
Digital developments are largely responsible for the breakdown of fair and just payment to artists since the inception of digitised sound – and even if you believe that a few files here and there won’t hurt, you can’t ignore the fact that we should be supporting our heroes in a far better way. Are you as excited as us to see how Blockchain technology resolves this problem in the near future?
