How blockchain can save billions for the media industry

The global entertainment and media industry’s revenue today is worth $2.1 trillion. This trillion-dollar industry is often exposed to multiple risks related to content distribution, rights management and royalty payments to artists. Illegal streaming and downloading of content has resulted in billions of dollars in lost revenue. According to another report, the industry is expected to lose around $51.6 billion due to copyright piracy in 2022.

Very often digital music is pirated quite easily and most attempts to prevent piracy have been defeated. This in turn affects the royalty payments paid to creators for the rights to use or publish their content. Also, payments are not always guaranteed and are based on traditional airtime figures. There is no effective way to control content distribution.

That was it until now.

Take back control, creators!

With the blockchain revolution, the industry’s incessant problems will now have appropriate solutions. The use of blockchain technology can be extremely effective in solving problems such as copy protection and royalty programs. The technology connects consumers, artists and all other stakeholders in the industry and provides full transparency over the distribution process.

Blockchain provides a network where every piece of digital music is encrypted to ensure access only to paid customers. This payment mechanism for access to the content is governed by a smart contract, thus eliminating the need for a centralized authority. The payments are made automatically based on the logic embedded in these smart contracts and the permissions prescribed for the number of downloads. All transactions in the blockchain network are recorded and immutable, making the process completely transparent and accessible to all stakeholders. This prevents illegal copying of digital music files at all, and therefore preserves copyright for the creators.

Blockchain – connecting content and creators

The cryptographic function of blockchain technology enables the creator to be linked to their content to avoid plagiarism. For example, a digital music file on a blockchain network contains the owner’s information and the time stamp. Both of these are immutable and traceable. The legal owners of the content are cryptographically linked to it. This ownership cannot be transferred to another user unless the original owner gives permission. Copyright transfers are easily managed and tracked with blockchain, as all transactions are recorded and cannot be tampered with. Smart contracts can then control all distribution and payment to the affected parties.

Blockchain technology gives intellectual property (IP) owners tools to better monitor and protect their work. Preventing the plagiarism of previously copyrighted content is just one of the many applications blockchain technology has to offer. Blockchain for businesses will reduce companies’ reliance on multiple security tools and has the potential to create high levels of trust for all transactions, thereby enabling managers to focus on better marketing strategies. This trust factor combined with the ease of use is driving the demand for blockchain among businesses.

Blockchain for the media and entertainment industry

The media industry is at the forefront of the digital revolution. By adopting several new technologies, the industry is enriching its user experience through data-driven insights that in turn build a strong brand value and engaging presence in social media.

The media industry often faces the challenge of controlling ownership and distribution. Web3 applications allow creators to effectively monetize their art. Creators can also set up an NFT marketplace, use smart contracts to profit from future sales, and reward loyal fans who invest early in their success.

Here are some ways the media industry can reduce the existing challenges:

Asset management security

The media industry has not been able to effectively control the digital sharing of content. Blockchain applications allow creators to verify identities, limit sharing and retain ownership of digital assets.

New income streams

Blockchain enables creators to sell exclusive assets such as NFTs and retain a portion of the profits from those assets as they are further traded in the future. This accountability also affects streaming, where pay-as-you-go models empower consumers and reward artists directly.

Fan connections

If an artist wants to sell parts of their career at a launch party, it lets his/her fans be a part of their journey and rewards fans with loyalty as their career expands. It is similar to a fan club where several parties are involved to ensure that the revenue stays in the creator community.

Blockchain in TV

Blockchain can examine digital assets and eliminate fake videos before they hit the news. Consumers can choose the channels they want and pay only for the content they want to consume. NFTs can create exclusivity in a streaming world where everything is available all the time.

Blockchain in film distribution

Blockchain can handle challenges related to identity, ownership and copyright. For example, scenarios where an actor wants to be paid depending on the success of the film, a studio wants to price ads and product placements accurately or when creators want to control access and ownership of work.

Blockchain in music

The legacy of Napster lives on in peer-to-peer sharing of music files to this day, and an entire industry had to adapt. But the challenges of payments, power tracking and payment distribution persist. Blockchain applications such as smart contracts, NFTs and micropayments can be the appropriate solution this industry needs.

Unique features of blockchain

Blockchain is a promising technology supported by its three core strengths – transparency, immutability and impeccable security. Although known for its popularity in the banking sector, blockchain is a futuristic technology that is set to disrupt all verticals with its distinctive applications. Here are some examples of how blockchain’s unique features can be used in the media industry.

• Immutability: Helps with censorship resistance.
• Security: Orderly data structures that result in a high degree of auditability and reliability.
• Transparency: Makes it possible to see ledger information across all users.
• Resistance: Prevents change of data, eliminates asymmetric information.
• Invulnerable: Blockchains are also distributed, meaning there is no single point of failure or attack vector for hackers or other malicious actors.

Benefits of blockchain in media and entertainment

The music business is still run primarily on legacy systems and outdated business models that were developed at a time when songs were mainly distributed offline and not released on the internet. Only a few competitors have managed to keep up with digitization, and they now rule the streaming business, squeezing revenue from artists.

The open and decentralized nature of the public Ethereum platform will allow players in the entertainment industry to reap the following benefits:

• Reduced IP infringement
• Disintermediated content from industry intermediaries
• Direct monetization of all text assets through smart contracts and p2p micropayments

Digital piracy, counterfeit copies, infringed studio IP, and duplication of digital assets cost the US film and television industry an estimated $71 billion annually. Enterprise Ethereum enables artists and creators to digitize the metadata of their unique content. It also manages and stores IP rights on a time-stamped and immutable ledger. Blockchain, with its attachment-only structure, makes it easier for creators to legally enforce their rights if infringement occurs.

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