Blockchain Helps Musicians Earn Through Music Streaming

By Dmitriy

BTC Wires: Blockchain is entering different sectors so it was just a matter of time before it entered the music sector. Choon is a recently launched Blockchain-based platform, which terms itself as “the Blockchain’s music solution.” It combines streaming services and digital payments and effectively aims to pay musicians 80% of the streaming revenue from their tracks, such as subscription services and advertising revenue, which is more than the standard amount they receive.

To simplify it, every time a track is played, the artist earns cryptocurrency. This could further eliminate another major problem by assuring regular royalty payments to the artists, as opposed to extended wait periods in hope of some financial return on their music.

The Choon ecosystem has over 4,500 artists registered, says the company. According to their Medium blog, almost 6000 tracks have already been uploaded since the platform launch, and the number of new tracks has been increasing 25 percent every week.

Major labels and streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music have come under a lot of fire due to their payment standards and how unfair they are. Musicians have spoken up against the high volume of revenue that is collected by these streaming services and record companies, instead of reaching the creators themselves. A popular example of this movement was global best-selling artist Taylor Swift removing her music from Spotify for three years, as a sign of protest against the share of royalties artists receive from the platform.

Choon has released their white paper, which sets out the four key methods aimed to enhance the current payment system. First, there will be a democracy by ensuring no involvement of middlemen and enabling direct payment between artists and their fans. There shall be greater transparency through publicly published stream count data, profit split information and wallet balances. They aim to be “fair and open about how homepage and playlist content is determined.” They also plan to integrate simple contract systems through Smart Record Contracts. Finally, Choon aims to empower listeners to have power and earn cryptocurrency in the form of the platform’s utility token. NOTES.