So a new dawn is upon us. Blockchains promise to revolutionize the industry, to eliminate many issues that plague the current industry. Royalty collection, licensing and distribution being a few of them. Offering complete ownership of your creative works, who wouldn’t jump onboard right away and start digesting the overwhelming amount of data and choices placed before us? Start making their works available over the many emerging platforms? Ujo Music, Channels, Musicoin and Dsound, just to name a few.
Forget about staying abreast of the constantly changing centralized market and devote their future time into creating a new presence in the decentralized world. Sounds great! Yet this isn’t happening. The expectation of a mass exodus hasn’t materialized yet. Why? I see several crucial issues.
Musicians are an intelligent group of people, but the daunting task that lies ahead of them to evolve onto the decentralized platforms presents a major task ahead. All the while continuing to write, record, perform and to promote all the work they’ve done on the centralized platforms. Even Einstein would gasp at the amount of comprehension and preparation that lie ahead of them.
I believe most musicians are intrigued about the blockchain’s potential, but shy away once the realize that they need to invest a considerable amount of time in making their presence in an unproven market. There is no magic platform that eliminates the need to educate themselves, or replace the “slave” factor they already feel with the streaming platforms that they have sold their souls to be a part of.
Artists are questioning their investment of time, into the market that has yet to provide platforms that have an easy to use interface experience, reliability and comprehendible access for their audiences. Slowly these adaptations are taking shape, but most of the people who are currently realizing it are crypto enthusiasts and artists with the vision to realize that the blockchain platforms will eventually evolve, creating that experience and attracting established and new audiences, as well as more prominent artists. This is a huge determent to our beloved blockchain platforms.
"The lack of accredited artists is slowing down the migration to blockchain platforms. It will take more than Imogen Heap (Ujo Music.) to establish viability and confidence in the new technology. It will require a broader acceptance from established and recognizable names. "
Unfortunately what we see in excess in the new world of music, is less talented artists sharing their wares. Now don’t get me wrong, they are everywhere and have every right to be there, but they are overpopulating the decentralized world of music. I frequently find myself forced to give my attention to those who are trending, as opposed to having the ability to surf feely amongst all the artists in genres of my choice. So imagine a non-artist newbie, searching the hallowed halls of decentralized music. They are likely not going to engage for long. Limited attention spans abound! As a radio broadcaster who is always searching for new talent, I am discouraged by the weeding required to be productive in finding great songs and artists. I persevere but most will not.
The presence of unlicensed copyright material being used by people is also a black mark against decentralized platforms. The administrators must do a better job of flagging this content. We as artists and audience, must do the same. If this type of posting continues, we can expect that decentralized platforms will establish a reputation as a haven for pirates. There is no defending argument against this practice, it has to stop!
Until blockchain platforms are controlling pirated material, are easily used, are easily understood by all and attract established artists, there will continue to be hesitation from musicians and audiences, to fully embrace decentralized platforms. In time this will eventually change, but how long will it take? I suggest as long as possible! Unless our revolutionary artists spend a great deal more time educating their fans about blockchain platforms, crypto currencies, flagging pirates and proposing changes to current platform interfaces. We must also support every possible artist currently wading through the new universe. Without this support, we will all continue to wallow in the slow adoption of decentralized platforms. Give a listen, a comment and a share to everyone you can. The music business is proprietary enough without allowing that scourge onto the horizon.
