Traditionally, the music industry has been dominated by musicians working with labels. Under the umbrella of a music label are many different avenues, such as physical production and distribution, digital distribution and the marketing power from the label. For most artists the setup was necessary, even if they complained about it.
Now, though, things are changing. Blockchain is opening up the possibility of artists taking a more direct approach, which could dramatically swing the balance of power in their favor. Here are some exciting new companies that are changing the way the music industry operates.
Dequency
Often when it comes to licensing music, synch companies can take a decent chunk of profit. Dequency is a Web3 project aiming to change that. Designed to create a decentralized licensing portal for music rights holders, creators can license their music without having to pay any additional fees.
The project is built on the Algorand blockchain and will also will be a hub for content producers and visual artists to directly license music.
SphereTrax
Founded by composer Sefi Carmel, SphereTrax will offer Dolby Atmos-standardised tracks for cinema, TV, advertising, trailers, games, VR, AR and XR. Specifically curated for use in films, movies, and ads, users will be able to buy tracks as NFTs.
One of SphereTrax’s unique features is that thanks to machine learning, song aspects such as tempo, key, instrumentation and ‘emotional’ parameters, like how happy, sad, or reflective a track is integrates with their search algorithms. The contractual information will be then be stored in a transparent and secure manner with a traceable link to the licenser, the artist and the audio track.
Royal
Founded by Justin Blau (also known as 3LAU), Royal is a platform created to support music projects by allowing fans to invest and co-own songs with them. Artists sell NFTs (non-fungible tokens) which give audience members rights over some of their songs.
One of the major highlights of Royal so far has been Grammy winner Nas allowing for fans to become partial owners of a few of his tracks via acquiring nonfungible tokens through the platform.
Can Blockchain Technology Fix Data Collection Issues?
At present, there is no central database keeping track of artists’ personal information. Musicians rely on a disjointed licensing system that is both slow and inefficient.
For instance, fractured ownership of data prevents artists from getting paid. Platforms find it hard to identify rights owners or pay artists in the correct amount. Royalty payments may take months or years to arrive, due to old-school banking and poor information flows. On top of this, stakeholders have to pay high transaction fees. International banking isn’t cheap.
Blockchain has the ability to eliminate these issues entirely. When someone listens to a song, it automatically feeds into the network, creating a record on multiple computers. Smart contracts can then use this information to calculate royalty payments with ease.
Time will tell as to whether mass adoption occurs, but the future of the music industry for smaller artists is looking brighter than it has for a long time thanks to Blockchain Technology.
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