Blockchain, Meet Music.

Reshaping the Music Industry.

Perhaps as timeless as time itself, music is a universal concept.

From gramophones to CDs to Spotify, our medium of listening to music has also evolved. But if only we could go beyond listening to tangibly owning these melodies.

It appears there is a way.

Let’s explore that today…

Sketch by the author ©

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Owning a piece of music

On the 12th of February, we witnessed the most anticipated Super Bowl halftime performance. For her much-awaited comeback, Rihanna I-need-no-further-introduction Fenty dazed the crowd and made an interesting announcement.

But she wasn’t the only one who made a comeback.

Her hit song ‘B-ich Better Have My Money’, which she opened with, also went viral.

This was the perfect chance for Jamil Pierre, a co-producer of the song, to cash out. See, ahead of the performance, he had put up his royalties of the song for sale as NFTs. Following the sale, another 0.99% of his royalty rights got redistributed to over 200 people via Ethereal NFTs on the platform AnotherBlock. That’s a lot of percentages!

Yet each tiny percentage granted each NFT owner rights to the song and assured them lifetime ownership of that portion of the copyright.

In fact, AnotherBlock’s mint was said to have raked in $63,000 in revenue. Woah.

There are also startups like Corite, that allow fans to invest in their favourite artists via blockchain technology. This works by inviting fans to donate toward a new release via crypto, creating music and then sharing the revenue.

And with blockchain technology, there’s the assurance that an accurate record of these transactions will be kept. Smart contracts also help ensure that the established rules of engagement are enforced.

Other use cases

While some have also utilised NFTs as a way to sell concert tickets, others have also created collectables and memorabilia around their musical performances.

Perhaps the most heartwarming use case is how this allows for a deeper connection between the artiste and their following.

For example, Bnxn (formerly known as Buju) launched an NFT project last year to build a community around his deepest fans, which doubles as a way for them to earn a share of his streaming revenue.

In essence, the middleman is removed, resulting in a direct value shared between the artist and her audience.

So what will blockchain do to the business of music? Only time will tell. But to the fans, perhaps it’s nice to have a slice of the musical cake.

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