Overview
It's a fact that the best art doesn't always produce financial gain for the artist or promoters. Most of the profits go to the corporations that artists align themselves with.
The art market is a $40 billion industry. In the music world, 2016 global revenues were $15.7 billion. This is projected to grow to $57 billion in 2021. Centralized streaming platforms like Spotify can take up 80% of the revenue stream.
Established musicians can make back some money by going on tour.
Unfortunately, the politics and mechanics of traditional, bureaucratic art and music corporations have frozen out newer and smaller artists. These artists have fewer options for making their art visible, selling it, and making an honest profit.
However, there are EXCITING new projects that use the Blockchain technology, that may make the lives of artists better.
The Blockchain Alternative
The blockchain technology for cryptocurrencies is now moving to other industries. In the art world, producers of art and consumers of art can connect directly with no middleman.
Artists can now distribute their art in a decentralized way and eliminate corporations who took much of the profits.
Examples
https://wildspark.me/ is a decentralized, blockchain-based platform for text, videos, and other content to be shared. It was built by the team at Synero Artists can offer their art, sell it directly, and be paid directly. WildSpark uses AMPs as its digital currency.
From the article:
"Users are able to give AMPs as a way to reward creators monetarily, while creators are allowed to use the digital currency as a way to buy attention from users. The more AMPs, the greater attention a video, article or other content piece receives.
Time will tell if WildSpark will prove to be a profitable marketplace for artists.
Other Initiatives
- Opus Foundation is offering musicians a way to upload their music without the cost of paying Apple, Spotify, or Youtube. 97% of the profits are given to the artists!
- Cappasity allows artists who create 3D images to monetize their artwork and share it on their system which uses their own tokens.
Personal Note
On a personal note, I'm a writer. I can confirm that if I entered into a contract with a publishing house, the publisher would get the bulk of the profits. This is due, in part, to the fact that they would provide editing, cover work, promotions etc. Instead, I self-publish under a variety of pen names, and keep most of the profits myself.
There's still a cut that goes to platforms like Kindle. For a book priced at $2.99, Amazon gets 30% and I get 70%. I'd LOVE to see a decentralized publishing market that would allow writers to upload and promote their books, perhaps lower prices, and get anywhere near 97% of the profit.
In many ways, I truly think the BlockChain arhitecture will change the world for the better.
There's much more in the article linked below.
Source
https://www.forbes.com/sites/rogeraitken/2017/08/17/how-the-blockchain-is-disrupting-the-art-economy-as-we-know-it/#7703942674fe - by Roger Aikin on Forbes
**Image Credit: ** Pixabay