Turning up the volume: Blockchain projects aim to disrupt the music industry

cointelegraph.com:

Music is a tricky business. The industry has its fair share of controversies, from monopolies to the limited earning potential for upcoming artists. While Web2 brought many positive changes, the industry still has a long way. Because of this, projects are trying to utilize blockchain technology to provide new solutions to the age-old music market.

In the last ten years, the industry has changed drastically because of the internet and social media development. Artists have new mediums to share their songs, and fans have many new ways to engage with and support their favorite musicians.

However, like most things within the Web2 sphere, a select few own the assets in the industry, and large corporations profit more than the users and artists. While they are still in their early stages, some blockchain projects are trying to take a shot at changing the industry from within.

Tune.FM, a platform powered by Hedera Hashgraph, claims to be able to give musicians 90% of music streaming revenue, which is approximately ten times more than stream earnings on mainstream services. Artists can earn digital tokens every time their music is streamed within the platform.

In an announcement, Andrew Antar, the co-founder of Tune.FM pointed out that there were many independent musicians that suffered after the pandemic. “With the likes of Spotify not paying them fairly, many were struggling to get by. We are the antidote for the millions of creatives that are not being paid fairly by the big streaming services,” Antar said.

Andreessen Horowitz-backed music marketplace Royal continues to let fans have shared ownership of songs from their favorite artists through nonfungible tokens (NFT). After dropping NFTs for prominent rapper Nas, the platform