MUSIC & TECHNOLOGY: BLOCKCHAIN IN MUSIC RIGHTS MANAGEMENT

The recent decade has ushered in numerous technology based developments in the music ecosystem.  These developments like the emergence of the internet have been very fast paced.

They include; the use of blockchain in music rights management, virtual concerts, AI assisted music creation, etc. 

We will focus on the use of blockchain as an alternative to digital right management systems.

 

Blockchain use in music rights management is a response to the failed attempts by centralized DRM(Digital Rights Management)  systems to close the “value gap”. DRM is the use of technology to control and manage access to copyrighted materials such as songs, movies, etc. 

They are used by media publishers to safeguard their revenue streams by disallowing free distribution of copyright materials. For example, Apple iTunes limits the number of devices a customer can use to listen to songs.

Existing DRM systems are centralized and quite controversial as they tend to cater to major record labels and publishing companies instead of the right holders. These centralized systems have also facilitated  the creation of “value gap’, which refers to the royalties withheld by major publishers due to technical difficulties of matching royalty to right owners. 

It is due to this inefficiency that the decentralized and transparency-based blockchain has been suggested as a proficient solution. 

At its core, blockchain is a distributed ledger that is used for recording transaction data and value transfers.

Blockchain technology can be used to establish chain of title, manage the exploitation of works and distribute royalties. The use of smart contracts(a self executing computer code that includes the operational terms of an agreement between two or more parties) can further eliminate the use of intermediary platforms which will then provide for uniform information on rights ownership and royalties allocation. This will also enable the artist to retain more of the revenue generated from their work. 

In 2015, the Grammy award-winning singer and songwriter Imogen Heap made her song “Tiny Human” available for direct download for $0.60 (or the equivalent amount of Ether cryptocurrency) per download, using the Ethereum blockchain-based Ujo Music platform. After the song was purchased, a smart contract that split revenues between Heap and other rights holders was executed. 

In 2017, Spotify acquired the Brooklyn-based blockchain startup Mediachain Labs, with hopes of  working on developing better technology for connecting artists and other rights holders with the tracks hosted on Spotify’s service. This acquisition was motivated by a licensing dispute with the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) over unpaid royalties in 2016. 

 

We will be seeing more of these collaborations in the near future as intermediary platforms like Spotify wouldn’t want to be rendered obsolete by these new age technologies. 

Artists must also strive to catch up with fast paced developments so as to avoid being left behind. 

Using the words of K.L Grayson, “Life is one big chance. You can either choose to sit on the sidelines and always take the safe route, or you can jump into the game”.