Since the music industry appeared in the 20th century, various proposals have been developed to bring the musical work of artists closer to their audiences and ways to monetize it.
That is why new and creative ways have always sought to generate more significant and better transparency when compensating its creators and collaborators as various forms of technology were implemented, from the first rudimentary recordings to the arrival of digital resources and the Internet.
The response has not always been the most appropriate, although it is undeniable that it has improved in this regard over the decades. Despite this, much remains to be done. And this is where blockchain technology can do something about it.
More innovations have occurred in the music industry than we've seen since Napster over the last two decades. Depending on who you ask, Napster is attributed to either dying or rejuvenating the music industry.
Whatever side of the debate you are on, it is indisputable that Napster revolutionized and rejuvenated the music industry.
In 2019, the global recorded music market expanded by 8.2 percent. It has increased for five years in a row. Many markets saw revenue growth, including nine of the top ten global markets.
Following a 22.9 percent increase in 2019, digital music revenues now account for more than half (56%) of the worldwide record music market. By the end of that year, 341 million people worldwide had signed up for streaming services.
Blockchain has the potential to save the music industry billions of dollars by revolutionizing the rights and royalties process, guaranteeing that artists, authors, publishers, and everyone else in the music industry value chain are adequately compensated.
Using blockchain in the music industry will ease the management of rights and royalties by providing a single version of the truth, regardless of territory or rights ownership specifics, guaranteeing everyone is paid the correct amount on time.
However, for this to happen, the industry must work together to establish a standard practice and trust in one another and the technology.
Fair payments and compensation for artists' compositions and performances have been a significant problem for musicians since the digital age. Getting compensated becomes a battle when record companies, distributors, and banks are involved.
At the same time, they must contend with piracy and copyright issues. However, similar to other entertainment industries or financial sectors, blockchain technology has the potential to change and improve the music industry through its decentralized platforms.
This article outlines how blockchain technology is impacting the music industry today.
Blockchain labels
Blockchain technology can help take power away from third-party intermediaries like labels and platforms, who sway what music people hear.
Blockchain strives to provide independence, control, security, and fair payment to musicians, fans, producers, composers, and performers who create artistic content. The technology will help address compensation issues, of which the record corporations retain the most significant percentage of profits.
The Blockchain phenomenon is beginning to be seen in the music industry as an alternative to conflicts traditionally associated with the industry: royalties distribution between artists and rights owners, determining ownership of musical works (especially now that a single song can have multiple authors), licenses and catalog distribution in different markets.)
Empowerment of artists
Blockchain technology can help empower artists more in their profession, especially semi-professional artists.
While the issue of unequal distribution is unlikely to be resolved entirely, improving conditions for semi-professional artists can make a big difference and lead to a more diverse market.
That's what Muzix NFT Marketplace was created for. To help Semi-professional artists looking for a stage and don't want to wait until they have been listened to thousands of times for a few euros. These semi-professional artists need a platform to get known. Spotify is huge, but musicians earn little from it.
Royalties, Streaming and Blockchain technology
So, how does blockchain impact the music industry regarding royalties and streaming? One of, if not the most visible, of its benefits is the ability to eliminate intermediaries from the process of music sales and streaming.
While streaming services have changed the way people listen to music by making it more widely available, they have also put a new layer of intermediate between artists and consumers.
The music streaming industry has made significant progress, providing a more cost-effective and user-friendly alternative to piracy while also allowing artists to get compensated for their work.
However, the evident inequality in royalties distribution has been exposed due to this transformation. Like many other things, the allocation of royalties to musicians resembles a Pareto chart with a tiny percentage of artists accounting for most music streams and, consequently, royalty earnings.
But with blockchain technology, that issue will resolve where artists have the most percentage of their earnings, if not all of them.
Artist now have new revenue opportunities
Blockchain is transforming the way artists, particularly independent ones, are compensated, increasing the amount of money they keep while also speeding up the copyrighting and distribution process.
Musicians can already use blockchain technology to tap into another significant source of revenue for independent artists: highly engaged audiences.
And these highly engaged audiences, the fans, can quickly get closer to the artists because the artist can offer exclusive content and fans get the chance to buy those content, for example, an NFT that an artist must have mints.
This is what the Muzix NFT marketplace is working at achieving. To create an NFT marketplace where musicians can mint an NFT and sell it to their fans.
What could be more fun than owning an NFT of an artist who might breakthrough? After all, such an NFT can quickly become worth much more. All this opens up a whole different market.
Artist now have new revenue opportunities
Other systems, such as Mediachain, Musiclife, eMusic, and others, are focused on the same royalties issue and use comparable technology to provide independent musicians with a larger share of the pie they are essentially creating.
On the other hand, Blockchain technology is proving to be a straightforward and effective way for independent musicians to deal with other areas of the industry that may be tough for newbies.
And Muzix NFT Marketplace platform created for musicians allows artists to split payments with co-creators easily. So if you are a co-producer, visual artist or influencer? Then you divide the profit (or royalties) based on percentages through the blockchain smart contract.
Conclusion
Will blockchain technology help artists regain control and revenue? Progress is already being made, but there is still a lot of space for expansion since artists are driven to higher-paying jobs.
The same can be true for listeners, who can now benefit from incentives thanks to some of these decentralized networks.
While these increased incentives for both musicians and fans may assist in propelling the usage of blockchain in the music industry ahead, the industry's prior missteps may play a critical part in driving artists toward new and superior solutions. There is a growing market for blockchain experts now.
