RECAP: Blockchain & the Arts Panel, March 8, 2016
By Lance Koonce
We had a terrific panel discussion last night covering blockchain technology and how it will impact the content industries. I’m going to give a very quick summary here, but we should be posting a video of the panel discussion very soon. [UPDATE: Here’s the Video]
First, in the spirit of the Grammy and Oscar season that just ended, I WOULD LIKE TO THANK
- Our Moderator, Joseph Lubin of ConsenSys/Ujo
- Our Panelists, Benji Rogers (PledgeMusic and dotblockchain), Robert Norton (Verisart), Bill Wilson (MusicBiz), and Tim Luckow (Stem)
- DWT Staff, including in particular Michelle Mattera
- Laurie Jakobsen of Jaybird Communications
- My partners Chris Robinson and Lynn Loacker
- And last but not least our attendees, many of whom work in the creative fields and/or on blockchain projects themselves, and who raised many great issues for the panel to chew on.
I gave a very brief presentation on what the blockchain is and may become for the content industries, and then we launched into the panel discussion. Each of our panelists described their own businesses and views on the how blockchain technology fit in with their work. Benji described his dotblockchain project and made an impassioned plea for adoption of a single standard of minimum viable data for music metadata for the blockchain. Robert announced the launch of Verisart for fine art certification ad verification. Bill explained his work on metadata for the Music Business Association and the challenges that must be faced in trying to fix what all panelists agreed is a broken music industry. Tim provided a glimpse into Stem’s work to create a platform for tracking and organizing content owners’ revenue streams.
What followed was a wide-ranging discussion, expertly shepherded by Joseph — who also explained the work Consensys is doing around blockchain tech generally and the work Ujo is doing in music — about what type and level of information about content is appropriate for a blockchain registry; what data should be kept private versus public; how the different players in the ecosystem will react and adapt (or not!) to the disruption likely to be forthcoming; which existing problems can potentially be fixed by blockchain technology and which cannot; what advantages and disadvantages are provided by public versus private blockchains; the utility and legality of smart contracts; the tracking and registry of physical objects versus digital content/asset; and many more issues too numerous to mention.
Although each of our panelists approaches the use of blockchain technology from somewhat different angles, this made for a robust discussion and the airing of some really interesting and challenging ideas.
Thanks again to everyone who attended!
