Watermarking, Fingerprinting, and Content ID for Creators… What’s the Future?

Note: Dot Blockchain Media changed it’s name to Verifi Media on September 23, 2019. This article is saved in it’s original format, but is referring to www.verifi.media

Last September we posted an article about why dynamic media formats make sense in the digital world, in which we showed a video of STOLAR’s watermarked track “Forget and Feel”: our first dynamic media bundle to hit the supply chain. Since then, we have released the first fully watermarked dotBC bundle for an entire EP! Anya Marina’s Over You EP debuted in March and the watermark can be listened to using the Digimarc app on your phone or tablet — taking you straight to her public-facing metadata!

But is watermarking enough? Many companies are now looking to audio fingerprinting, the backbone technology behind well-known initiatives like YouTube’s ContentID system. Gracenote’s TuneUp uses fingerprinting to identify possible audio matches to clean up metadata, and recent exciting announcements like Audible Magic’s ‘Rights Audit’ and DistroKid’s partnership with Audible Magic to create DistroLock should alleviate some of the pains around fake artist releases from leaked music.

So, what exactly is the difference between watermarking and fingerprinting? I’m so glad you asked:

Fingerprinting technology is really useful for identifying if a work that is loaded into a database or submitted to a DSP for distribution, is in fact the same recording (or work in the case of a cover!) as an existing copyright. This helps eliminate bad actors who may be trying to claim they own the copyright to a work or recording when initially loading into the ecosystem.

Watermarking on the other hand is a separate but equally useful process — focused on directing listeners to a specific repository of data from within the song itself. Another way to think of this in the dotBC ecosystem, is there could be more than one version of the track out there in the universe — but a watermarked version would be the “fair trade” version, the official copy, with a direct link to the metadata repository stored on dotBC.

For brand new recordings, this is a really exciting opportunity to make sure all copies of your track are this “fair trade” format. By watermarking your masters before distribution, you ensure that all downloaded copies, all streaming platforms and radio play, and even user generated content like YouTube videos are playing the same watermark.

Let me show you how that works in greater detail.

In March 2019, Anya Marina released an EP titled “Over You” and every track on that album was watermarked before delivery. Wherever these tracks are played (minus live or cover versions of course) fans and companies alike can listen to the tracks using the Digimarc app to pull up public metadata stored on dotBC’s ecosystem.

1dotBC ingests and processes the data files received from Anya — including ownership data, track metadata, and the audio file.

2 the data environment bundles this data and assigns it a unique ID and “hash” which is stamped onto the blockchain.

3 the original master audio file is watermarked using dotBC’s partner Digimarc. This watermark points to a dotBC URL which will display the public-facing data about the master upon release date.

4 Anya downloads the new watermarked Master from dotBC and sends it to her distributor, label services, publishing admin services, co-writers, producer, etc. and instructs them to delete all other Masters. The watermarked file will now be the only version released to the public.

5 Upon release date, the embargoed public data is displayed to users on the dotBC URL when they listen to her watermarked track using the Digimarc App. Now, whether you are listening on Spotify, Apple, Amazon, YouTube or the CD you purchased on Anya’s Bandcamp — you are able to access the watermark and therefore ownership data.

This system revolutionizes the way tracks can be micro-licensed in the future for sync and covers, and puts powerful asset management and transparency back in a creator’s hands. If new information becomes available (like an ISWC or a new linked cover version) Anya will be able to update the dotBC environment — triggering a new entry in the immutable ledger that is the history of Anya’s track, and updating the public display URL.

So, what is the future of fingerprinting and watermarking within the music industry? I would speculate that the dynamic watermarking offered by Digimarc (i.e. you can update the URL to be anything you want without re-watermarking!) is a great place for creators to start playing with new ways of distributing information about their works to fans and companies alike.

I also would wager that as the industry becomes single-track and digitally focused, fingerprinting will be a requirement for many distribution deals in the future. The more transparent and fair we can make a trading environment, the more traders will flourish, and it’s only a matter of time before I think we will find both of these technologies in constant use.

To learn more about how we incorporate watermarking into our technologies, please visit: www.dotblockchainmedia.com

Chloe Johnson is the Head of Operations for Dot Blockchain Media — working directly with major industry partners to find solutions for the music industry by applying dotBC technology. In addition to her role as a technologist, Chloe is also an independent artist marketing specialist with 8 years of industry experience and the founder of Extra Magic Consulting.