- Blockchain’s smart contract could be the next big thing to turn the music industry around massively.
- Musicians earn only 12% of what their music make.
Technology plays a role in everything we do, and it is not different in the music industry. The growth of technology has massively helped to improve and disrupt the business of music from what it was in previous years, to what we have now today.
First, the development of radio, record players and compact disc made the industry more commercialized. Then, the coming of the internet, which brought with it downloads and streaming changed the way the industry operates.
Now, the industry appears to be ready for another massive development, especially with the technological advancements made in blockchain and smart contract.
The music industry would not exist without the artists who record and create musical content for the audience. But these creators, with the current setting of the industry, are only able to earn a pittance from the current online streaming method the industry applies.
With the current setting, music creators are only able to earn just 12% of all of the revenues their music makes. The lion share of the revenue goes to the “right holders,” who are mostly the music labels and the publishers.
Blockchain’s smart contract could be what the musicians need to be able to get something more tangible from their music.
How Smart contract will work
One way smart contract will massively help the musician is through the fact that recording contracts will be recorded on the blockchain.
This will make it harder for the record labels, lawyers and publishers to get a bulk of the revenue earned from music.
In the current setting of the industry, artists also have to wait for at least six months before getting their pay. But with blockchain, the wait would not be that long again, artists could start to get their payment in cryptocurrency immediately, directly and in a very efficient manner.
The moment there is a wide acceptance of smart contract in the industry, the music industry would witness power shifting into the hands of the music creators —musicians.
