Music is a tricky business. The industry has had its fair share of controversies, from monopolies to limited earning potential for up-and-coming artists. While Web2 brought many positive changes, the industry still has a long way to go. Because of this, projects are trying to use blockchain technology to provide new solutions to the old music market.
Over the past ten years, the industry has changed drastically due to the development of the Internet and social media. Artists have new mediums to share their songs, and fans have many new ways to connect with and support their favorite musicians.
However, like most things in the Web2 sector, there are a select few assets in the industry, and large corporations tend to make more profits than users and artists. While they are still in their early stages, some blockchain projects are trying to change the industry from within.
fair payment to musicians
Tune.FM, a platform powered by Hedera Hashgraph, claims to be able to deliver 90% of music streaming revenue to musicians, which is almost ten times more than stream income on mainstream services. Artists can earn digital tokens every time their music is streamed within the platform.
In an announcement, Tune.FM co-founder Andrew Difference explained that there were several independent musicians who were suffering after the pandemic. “With the likes of Spotify not paying them fairly, many people were struggling to get it. We are the antidote to millions of creatives who are not being paid fairly by the big streaming services,” said Gap. he said.
Allowing fans to co-own songs
Andreessen Horowitz-backed Music Bazaar Royal continues to let fans share ownership of their favorite artists’ songs via non-fungible tokens (NFTs). The platform recently issued tokens for American DJ and songwriter Diplo, after prominent rapper Nas left NFT.
In a blog announcing the Diplo drop, Royal co-founder Justin Blau wrote that the platform aims to “empower artists to maintain control of their work”, while providing fuel for their careers. Blau also believes that by co-owning music, fans “establish a deeper connection” and help them be independent in terms of creativity.
Empowering Music Collaboration through NFTs
A project called Squad of Knights lets its NFT owners form six-person squads, each with their own roles in the music production process. Unlike working with traditional music labels, the platform gives 100% ownership of the music they produce to its community members.
Founder and award-winning record producer Ramon ‘Ilmind’ Ibanga Jr. said, “It’s hard to work with people. It’s even harder to find the right people to work with.” He said the project aims to bring together producers, engineers, music artists and managers both in the real world and within the metaverse.
related: Grammys 2022: a hot topic of discussion among NFT musicians and industry experts
Providing decentralized audio to the metaverse
Solana-based streaming platform Audius provides an array of decentralized audio files to the Metaverse. The platform works with Metaverse such as Portal Metaverse to deliver music to its users. Due to its decentralized nature, Audacious allows anyone to pull content from the platform and use it when building their projects.
In a Cointelegraph interview, Ronell Rumberg, CEO and co-founder of Audius, said that the platform is a “decentralized repository of content with clearly defined rights, so third-party developers can pull from the platform’s catalog without issue.”
