Let’s face it; music streaming is huge right now — it’s basically the 21st-century vinyl. In fact, today’s traditional streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify have become cash cows for the music industry. Of course, this is a good thing in the sense that people all around the world will begin to see on-demand audio streaming as the future of music consumption. Moreover, the overall ease of streaming music implies that more music lovers will keep listening to their favorite tunes in the years to come.
Now, this is obviously great news for independent artists who find it hard to get exposure on media. Of course, they can now release their songs on a streaming platform and rest easy knowing that they’ll be heard.
But after the good news comes the pretty bad one — today’s music streaming services give little to no compensation to musicians. For example, Spotify pays a meager $0.006 to $0.00084 per stream. Yes, with such remuneration, you can tell that independent artists receive very little for their efforts and creativity.
In addition to the little payment, independent music artists also face the Issue of transparency. Essentially, complicated record contracts never fail to hide how much music artists are actually receiving per stream.
So what’s the solution to these challenges?
Well, taking a look at these problems, you can easily tell that blockchain technology is the ultimate solution. Yes, by decentralizing the entire music streaming model, record contracts will become less complex. In other words, there will be more transparency in how it pays artists for their beautiful creations. So of course, independent artists will get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. And yes, music fans will continue to have easy access to their favorite, much-anticipated hits. It’s the perfect win-win!
Now, the big question is, “what are the best blockchain-powered music streaming platforms right now?”
Well, we got the answer! Just keep up as we explore our top five picks for 2018 and beyond!
Choon
Co-founded by British DJ Gareth Emery, Choon is perhaps one of the leading blockchain-based music streaming services that are set to disrupt the industry. Of course, the primary purpose of this platform is to solve some of the biggest challenges faced by independent artists. Choon is basically a musical content ecosystem for artists and music lovers. For the most part, musicians can upload their music and get paid for streams. So unlike traditional music streaming platforms out there, this streaming service makes it possible for artists to earn what they deserve. In fact, Choon promises to give its artists up to 80% from the proceeds of streamed music. And even better, they’ll get to receive their payments quickly and efficiently.
It’s good to point out that Choon processes licensing and music contracting via Smart Record Contracts. So of course, this forward-facing solution will simplify the entire process while improving transparency and efficiency. We also think it’s worth noting that works with its exclusive Notes currency. So basically artists share their music on the platform and fans purchase their favorite hits using Notes. And as mentioned earlier, Choon only keeps 20% of the proceeds! At the time of writing, Choon has up to 7,462 artists earning Notes and interestingly 36 million Notes has already been earned by artists! Overall, we think Choon is totally worth checking out in 2018 and beyond. Highly recommended.
Voise
Next up on our list is VOISE — a decentralized Ethereum-powered music platform. Essentially, this music application is built for music lovers and independent artists. And as you probably expected, users can buy and listen to music from artists who eventually receive 100% commission for their creativity. Yes, on the VOISE platform, an artist can upload his or her album without the support of a music label. It’s completely open to any and every talented musician out there! And of course, fans can easily access the platform and pay for whatever music that tickles their fancy. Speaking of payment, fans basically use VOISE tokens to complete transactions and music artists gets paid directly — no fees and intermediaries.
It’s also worth mentioning that VOISE runs on a decentralized P2P system. So yes, it’s highly unlikely for the application to get hacked or taken down. What’s more, every transaction on VOISE is visible to everyone on the blockchain — it’s basically a win-win for both parties (fans and artists). To sum it up, Voise tokens are available at several different exchanges including Cryptopia, HitBTC, and Bit-Z. Be sure to watch this space!
Resonate
Resonate is yet another blockchain-based platform that’s looking to get rid of the unhealthy dichotomy between streaming and ownership. Essentially, Resonate is a streaming service owned by the people — it’s basically run as a coop. So yes, if you’re interested in this platform, you can choose to join as an artist, listener, developer or label. For the most part, Resonate operates on a stream2own model; a system where artists and fans get to enjoy the best streaming experience. Of course, with this model, music artists will get paid fairly and fans will own the music.
Just to be clear, the #stream2own model works by slowly increasing the price as a fan falls in love with a song. It basically starts cheap until it finally reaches the price of a regular download. All in all, artists will get to earn more revenue for their hard work and beautiful creativity. For what it’s worth, Resonate already has some labels onboard including RVNG Intl, Planet Mu, and Haycon Veil. Overall, a truly impressive platform that’s sure to catch on.
BitSong
BitSong is a decentralized music streaming platform with a difference. How? Well, for the most part, the Ethereum-based platform promises to offer great benefits to both artists and listeners. Yes, in addition to the fact that musicians get paid per stream, fans or listeners also get to earn for every play. Of course, on this platform, artists can upload music at their own pace. In essence, they’ll no longer need the support of music labels to share their creativity with the world. What’s more, the platform looks to give artists the opportunity to resell songs and even use them on social media to build fan-based loyalty.
That’s not all — BitSong also makes it possible for artists to receive donations to fund their upcoming album. To sum it up, BitSong is still an upcoming music streaming platform. It obviously has a lot of work to do, but we know for sure that it’s going to be awesome!
Musicoin
Last but certainly not the least is Musicoin. Of course, this global project still comes with the same purpose as other platforms on our list. Yes, it looks to give artists befitting rewards for their creativity. With Musicoin, artists will get to enjoy the pay per play system; so of course, more views equals more money. But perhaps another impressive highlight of this blockchain-based platform is that users can listen to music for free. It’s also good to point out that the platform has its own cryptocurrency which listeners can use to support their favorite artists. For example, there’s an option to tip, purchase show tickets and more. What’s more, users can communicate with their favorite acts and let them know just how awesome they are! Finally, the platform is entirely free of ads — just perfect!
Conclusion
So what do you think about blockchain’s presence in the music industry? If you’re an artist, we could bet that you’re completely thrilled by the power of this revolutionary technology. Of course, the whole idea of receiving the compensation you deserve and engaging fans in real-time is huge. At this point, we just have to keep our eyes peeled and watch how the blockchain will transform and revolutionize today’s music Industry.
