Andrew Juma

A Decentralized Music Industry and the Hope for Indie Artists Countless times, record labels and managers have been caught with pants down, exploiting songwriters and performers through unscrupulous tactics. Over the past decade, the industry has changed drastically, rocked by key technologies that seek to install the artist in the driver's seat. Even so, it's not been a smooth ride. The Benevolent Internet From the phonograph to the digitization of audio tracks in mp3 music has undergone several technological revolutions. Music and its medium were inseparable for several decades, but the digital evolution shatters this dependence, dematerializing art and triggering both challenges and opportunities for artists. Television and radio significantly contributed to music in our society, but they have lived their time. Today artists use social networks to grow their careers and connect with their fans. The internet transcends limitations by TV and radio, connecting fans to their favorite artists—their art, homes, relationships, finances, and everything. With streaming, there has been success in many aspects. The recorded music industry generated $18.8 billion in 2018, an increase of $2.2 billion over 2017 - with streaming contributing nearly half of that, or $9.6 billion. The labels are also institutionalizing their communication on social networks. The reservoir of users being so immense, more than 1 billion Facebook users and almost 350 million users for Twitter, the labels are trying to take advantage of it to increase the notoriety of their artists. A Pandora's Box While digital technology revolutionizes music accessibility and consumption, it raises critical challenges concerning distribution. Once equipped with a device connected to the internet, it is a cinch to access and use music for free on YouTube, BenSound, and SoundCloud. For paying platforms such as Spotify and Apple, how artists are compensated for the music they create and listen to hasn't changed substantially — meaning that even after service providers and labels divvy up their respective cuts, some artists are still paid little. With decent software, anyone can modify available music on these platforms, mislabel the songs, or re-upload them under a new different account. Some researchers have looked into the consequences of these technical encounters, with artist impoverishment being a central theme. Hope in the Blockchain The Blockchain has gained enormous traction in the music industry over the past few years. With blockchain technology and tokenized artworks, independent music labels and artists slowly but steadily regain control over their money and art. Currently, the two revolutionary Blockchain solutions for the music industry include NFTs and Audius. 1. NFTS The non-fungible token (NFT) is an electronic ID that authenticates the existence of a digital asset in the art world. The concept of an NFT is to represent art items such as music or paintings using digital tokens. The same software that underlies most cryptocurrencies encodes these tokens, and they are often bought and sold online using crypto. The codes are unique such that the owner of the code is the owner of the original artwork. NFTs create the virtual scarcity that elevates the value of art for musicians and other creators. Music professionals can create NFTs for their songs and album artwork and sell the digital products to their fans via cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, etc. Further, the artist can receive royalties whenever someone buys a digital copy and sells it. This new system gives artists greater control and an opportunity to get every penny from the sale of their artwork and digital merchandise. There have been NFT purchases totaling $174 million since November 2017. 2. Audius Increasing costs, content deletions, and a lagging user experience have musicians and fans displeased with SoundCloud. Besides, the platform doesn't pay. A blockchain alternative to SoundCloud, Audius is set to take the industry by storm. On the Ethereum-based Audius, artists will reportedly get 90% of the revenue earned. And the startup cannot delete or edit songs. Audius functions as a decentralized streaming music platform for musicians, fans, and developers to consume, share, and collaborate on artistic projects. The music is not hosted by Audius but is spread across several independent nodes. A time-stamped record of each artist's work is generated once the content has been uploaded to the company's platform. Audius equips artists with direct access to consumers by eliminating the need for third parties. Additionally. The website uses smart contracts to ensure the payment of artists is fair and prompt. Users can upload and create an account for free, but one must purchase the Audius tokens ($AUDIO). Audius currently holds original Ed Sheeran songs, Kanye West's remixes, and songs registered to labels like Dim Mak Records and Spinnin. All eyes are on the Blockchain. There is hope that decentralizing the music industry will eliminate music production and distribution elitism and put the money back in the pocket of artists—the actual owners.