Traditional vs. What’s Coming: How Blockchain Could Reshape The Music Industry [Benji Rogers]

The potential for how Blockchain tech could alter the music industry has often been discussed of late. In this piece we look at twenty-two ways that Blockchain, or more specifically the dotBlockchain Media project, could fundamentally alter the traditional approach to media rights.

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Guest post by Benji Rogers of Medium
An update from the dotBlockchain Media Project.dot Blockchain Media or “dotBC” has built and is in the process of releasing a new way for music and media creators to securely encode their rights and their identities into their digital assets using blockchain.For more information and to get involved please go to www.dotblockchainmedia.com to join our email list or slack. Thanks!

Traditional Approach:

Large centrally controlled database(s)

dotBC Approach:

Authoritative decentralized database

Traditional Approach:

Build new database(s)

dotBC Approach:

Build new digital assets

Traditional Approach:

Use 26 year old .WAV files with zero metadata or song data control

dotBC Approach:

Use .bc bundled files that write song and metadata amendments to blockchain

Traditional Approach:

Send music files & metadata separately via third parties

dotBC Approach:

Send music files & song data in permissioned trackable bundles via third parties or directly

Traditional Approach:

Multiple data entry points

dotBC Approach:

Single data entry point

Traditional Approach:

Message multiple parties to songs in separate places (email, phone, website logins)

dotBC Approach:

Message multiple parties through the song (each song like a slack channel or a permissioned WhatsApp group to linked parties)

Traditional Approach:

Physical documents and multiple separate third-party accounts needed to fully verify ownership information, contracts, payments, etc.

dotBC Approach:

Single interface to songs, albums, catalogs etc. with multiple admin capabilities

Traditional Approach:

No interoperable version tracking between the metadata and the media itself

dotBC Approach:

Accurate version tracking of all media and metadata from initial creation to studio, release and beyond

Traditional Approach:

Music files, contracts, artwork & metadata all in separate places

dotBC Approach:

Music files, contracts, artwork & metadata all in single workflow and user interface

Traditional Approach:

Amendments to metadata in multiple locations that do not synchronize

dotBC Approach:

Amendments to metadata timestamped & tracked in blockchain through single interface

Traditional Approach:

Existing identifiers (ISRC, ISWC etc.) need to match across non-interoperable systems

dotBC Approach:

Existing identifiers (ISRC, ISWC etc.) anchored to persistent blockchain address/identity

Traditional Approach:

Bad metadata revealed post distribution

dotBC Approach:

Less bad data reaches supply chain

Traditional Approach:

Conflicts solved but hard to share resolution

dotBC Approach:

Conflicts solved and then broadcast to all relevant parties to the song instantaneously

Traditional Approach:

Amendments and deletions to data possible by multiple parties in multiple places

dotBC Approach:

Amendments forward but never backward, permanent changelog for all data shared with all relevant parties

Traditional Approach:

Easier to hack centralized systems (i.e., Equifax)

dotBC Approach:

Decentralized systems harder to hack

Traditional Approach:

Private systems vulnerable to hacking (i.e., Equifax)

dotBC Approach:

Public & Private layers cryptographically harder to hack + blockchains minimize damage to the whole system

Traditional Approach:

No single agreed-upon identity or authority system

dotBC Approach:

Single scored and corroborated identity and authority system anchors owners to content & data

Traditional Approach:

Streaming service search by album, artist & song

dotBC Approach:

Streaming service search by any participant recorded and associated with a song, e.g., label, publisher, songwriter, musician, producer, etc

Currency Blockchain vs. Data Blockchain Approach

dotBC is solely focused on getting ownership information to be permanent and persistent in a blockchain environment. This allows us to take a very different approach than other blockchain proposals that are solely dependent on a currency to make their applications and systems work