We’ve all heard of bitcoin, right?! And if you haven’t, where have you been?
Over the past 5 years bitcoin and cryptocurrency has been taking over, it’s progressed from a way for people to invest and make money to the possible future of how our money can be controlled.
Let’s not be naive about it, our money is controlled by people a lot bigger than us. All we really know is how much (or little in my case) we have, and when/where we want to transfer it to; we have no insight into the behind the scenes journey our money goes on. This is why Blockchain Technology is particularly attractive in the financial industry – imagine having complete control and transparency over one the main things we need to survive?
I know what you’re thinking, what does this have to do with the Music Industry? Well, wait no longer..
One of the biggest issues currently affecting content creators in the Industry today is the loooong drawn out royalty process. Any creators who are owed royalty payment for their works are waiting months for a simple payment, not only is this crazy for the digital age we live in but completely unnecessary. I’m not saying that royalty payment will ever be as simple as a quick online transaction because of course all recordings have data attached to them and this same data and information travels through various collection society databases until FINALLY the content creators are paid. However, by using a decentralised Blockchain Technology to upload data and transfer royalties it will make the process quicker and slightly painless for creators.
Artists, composers, songwriters, producers, ANYONE involved in the process of creating music deserves transparency in the success of this content. Maybe not all will be eligible for royalty payment but that doesn’t mean the use of Blockchain Technology won’t positively impact them. Imogen Heap, a grammy-winning artist, Blockchain enthusiast and founder of her own technology, Mycelia (impressive, I know) has been fully involved in educating future and current artists about how they can control their content and have full transparency over owed payments if they trust in Blockchain. Giving back the power and freedom to rights holders!
“Giving back the power and freedom to rights holders”
The future of Blockchain in Music is definitely an exciting thing to look out for, most recently we have seen many big companies such as Spotify, Ticketmaster and major collection societies investing and portraying trust in how Blockchain can work in the Music Industry. Believe me, I could go on and on about how Blockchain can positively change the old ways the Industry works with creators but you really would have to be here all day and neither of us have time for that! I’ll attach a ‘Blockchain in Music’ infographic I created for a University project below (I can’t promise it’s any good) if you want to have a read..
Thank you for reading, hopefully I’ve educated you and not bored you to sleep but if you enjoyed, keep an eye out for next week’s blog!
Music Talks UK 