Blockchain technology is opening up new paths for artists

LEGAL ENTERTAINMENT

Blockchain technology is becoming a hot topic in the entertainment industry: Musicians, filmmakers and other industry professionals are all beginning to realize its potential. One of the most transformational applications of the technology involves digital rights management.

A musician, filmmaker or other creator can utilize blockchain to publish, distribute, pay royalties and enforce licenses. A few artists have already jumped on the bandwagon. Well-known musician Imogen Heap was one of the first. She partnered with the blockchain technology-based company Ujo Music. On their website, a consumer can directly purchase and download the track from the blockchain. Fans can purchase the track with cryptocurrency or other general forms of payment. Heap used smart contracts, which take payments and instantly deliver to the copyright holders their share of the fee. This cuts out many of the middlemen that musicians generally have to contract with, such as labels, publishers or collection societies. Thus, the artist/owner gains more control over their music and potentially paid higher royalties for their content.

Electronic artist Gramatik has taken it one step further by holding an initial coin offering to raise capital. To do this, Gramatik created his own token called GMTK and released 25 percent of them to fans for purchase. He raised over $2 million, and now anyone who holds a GMTK token will receive a piece of Gramatik's royalties. Instead of signing over the rights to their music, musicians have the opportunity to raise capital and release music on their own and run their music career as a personal business.

A few startups are looking to use blockchain to collect data from musicians for each work created. Each block of information would include the owners, including all singers, band members and any other musician that may be entitled to a royalty. It can also show licenses, who to contact to obtain licenses -- basically any information that may be needed to manage rights, decrease the likelihood of infringement, and avoid loss of royalties and fees.

Over the last two years, Heap has dedicated her time to helping musicians be a part of the current technological change through her Mycelia project. The first step was releasing her music on blockchain, which she did with Ujo. Now, she is pushing forward with the heart of her project. Starting in September, Heap is going on an informational and musical tour that will seek to educate, promote and offer a "Creative Passport" that will include verified profile information, IDs, acknowledgements and details of works, business partners and payment mechanisms. The blockchain creates a "connective hub" between the artist and anyone they would like to do business with. This project creates a database that could help other creators, such as filmmakers or other artists, find the owners of the work, obtain a license and pay royalties.

Blockchain technology is still being fine-tuned in ways to fit the complexity of the entertainment industry. There are a few down sides that professionals are worried about. For example, infringing content could be put onto a blockchain and the immutability of the technology would make it almost impossible to remove that content. But in the end, with how fast the technology is growing, it's only a matter of time before someone advances it to address these potential issues.

The music industry had the carpet taken out from under it when P2P file sharing started in the 90s. Musicians were hit hard and hope to avoid the same outcome this time around. Artists are educating themselves and embracing the changes. If blockchain technology takes hold, creators could benefit greatly; the ones that look to get hit the hardest are the middlemen, unless they too adapt their business model.