Why Web3 is the Future of Music
…and the music industry is ready for it.
From collecting songs and other music related memorabilia to revolutionizing concert ticketing and streamlining music royalties, we are only just beginning to realize the potential of Web3 in the music industry.
Its a funny thing. New tools and technology now have the power to simultaneously launch the music industry into the future while at the same time, returning it to its core. Somewhere the connection between artist and fan — the connection between music and people — became a web of connections between advertisers, algorithms, streaming providers, data brokers, social media platforms, opaque resale marketplaces — with toll-booths at every stop.
Unwinding this tangle of inefficiencies that extract value from the artist-fan connection is the real promise offered by Web3.
The first place where Web3 can disrupt the music space is in ticketing. Cloutchain is a prime example of how ticketing can leverage the upside of the blockchain to reduce costs and friction. Every digital asset created on Cloutchain can be scanned and have its ownership verified in seconds. No app download required, no software subscription needed, and anyone can verify ownership of any asset in real-time. In addition, the ownership data tied to a given asset is rooted on a distributed ledger so it is nearly impossible to fake or change. This drastically reduces problems like scalping and predatory reselling when implemented properly.
Music licensing and royalty management is the next major pillar of the music industry that can be radically reshaped using Web3 tools. Using Cloutchain’s licensing tools, fans can own digital assets tied to individual songs or albums and can receive ongoing or one-time rewards based on play count, sales, or other key indicators set by the musician. Music can be licensed to film, tv, other musicians, and more and all records and payments are automated and tracked on a secure ledger that can be easily verified. No more paper royalty checks for $0.36 and no more centralized bookkeeping and annual audits to ensure fairness. It’s simple, whoever owns the underlying digital asset when a payment milestone is hit, gets paid automatically and records are accessible and open to all parties involved.
A third, and very important, additional value add of leveraging blockchain in music is that artists can retake control over the fan communities that they have worked so hard to build. An artist can spend years or more building a following. Many reaching followings in the millions or tens of millions. However these fan communities are housed on massive centralized social platforms aimed at profiting form this connection. Social platforms control what fans see in an effort to keep their attention. The faster the fan finds your latest post or newest single, the faster they are off the platform — which means they will see fewer targeted ads. But its not just the fans who are being monetized. The artist themselves have to spend tens of thousands of dollars each year if they want to reach their own followings. The result of the above is that artists have no direct line of communication to their communities and this results in low fan engagement and leaves artists with no knowledge of who their key fans are and what their own fans’ preferences are. That information is reserved for the social media companies. Web3 changes all of this.
Cloutchain is a suite of ever growing tools for musicians and other content creators that allows them to identify and engage directly with their most dedicated fans. No subscriptions, crypto, or technical knowledge needed. Sell a digital collectable that also doubles as a VIP access pass to your upcoming tour; drop some digital collectibles featuring a new track and empower your community receive benefits when the song blows up; learn who your most dedicated fans are and seize control of the following you worked so hard to build.
