Outlines the uses for blockchain in media and online entertainment, and explains how it will benefit businesses as its use spreads around the globe.
The popularity of blockchain technology has grown significantly in the last few years around the world. While the blockchain is most commonly associated with the future of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, blockchain technology is so much more than just that.
Technology expert Daniel Bennet discusses the future of blockchain technology on media and online entertainment.
Blockchain Impact On Online Entertainment
One avenue where the blockchain is rapidly gaining ground is the media and entertainment industry. With the COVID-19 pandemic still raging across the globe, the enforced quarantines have led to an entertainment boom. Many people are cooped up at home; entertainment helps alleviate the pain of being cut off from entertainment outside.
Using the blockchain for entertainment can help meet the two main hurdles facing media companies: the difficulty of protecting their intellectual property, while at the same time profiting from its use by consumers.
Before we delve into this issue, it is first important to be clear about what the blockchain is and what it does. Simply put, the blockchain is an encrypted and secure database shared by multiple partners in a distributed network. Any transaction within that shared network is recorded. The transaction rewards are able to be viewed by all partners.
Because all transactions conducted within the blockchain are transparent, all members can verify and audit them personally. The trust possible in such a technology is no small reason for the blockchain’s selling point as a “technology of trust”.
Online gamblers flocked to online casinos that leveraged blockchain technology and offered cryptocurrencies as part of the banking options. Blockchain technology is very popular with players who are always on the lookout for top crypto-friendly sites. If you are looking for top blockchain-friendly casinos check out casinos online.
Furthermore, because the blockchain exists in a shared network instead of a centralized server or authority, members can access blockchain data much faster, almost in real-time. The decentralized nature of the blockchain allows transactions to be cheaper and faster than standard technologies.
Now that we have an idea of what the blockchain is, and how it works, let’s take a look at three ways its use can impact the field of entertainment in the future.
Royalty Distribution
Royalty payments have long been the lifeblood of the music industry. Every time an artist’s song is played, they get a royalty amount from the distributor of their music. While radio and TV plays were much easier to track back then, tracking streaming services today can get contentious for both parties, with disputes on how much royalty payments each party deserves.
Smart contracts using blockchain technology could help remove this hurdle, by writing the contract terms within the blockchain – automatically dispensing the appropriate payments to each party.
Blockchain technology can ensure that both parties will be satisfied with each of their ends. The resulting transparency will help expedite the royalty payment process and make it more efficient, eliminating the need for copyright collection companies.
Micropayments
In the struggle to monetize their intellectual properties, many entertainment companies are using paywalls to cut off non-subscribers from their services. While this of course adds to their bottom lines compared to having no paywalls, a fair number of consumers are unable to commit to subscriptions but would have no issues paying a one-time fee for access to just the article, episode, movie, or series they want to access.
Entertainment companies have long balked at distributing their content in a micropayment-based environment, because of the difficulty of making sure consumers would only be able to consume only what they paid for.
Previous technologies were ill-equipped for this. Not only were microtransactions harder to implement, but they were also too expensive to justify the investment.
The blockchain makes micropayments feasible and blockchain is also increasingly used for mobile payments. Blockchain technology’s ability to record all transaction data efficiently helps make micropayments reliable for both consumers and producers.
The advantages of blockchain can already be seen in the recent rise of the Bitcoin casino industry. Unlike fiat-based online casinos, Bitcoin casinos dispense with minimum deposits and withdrawals, allowing players to buy in and cash out for however much they want without any detrimental effects to the casino operator.
Direct-to-Consumer Sales
Blockchain technology can help companies access consumers directly. As we all know, peer-to-peer file sharing has long been the bane of entertainment companies, who oppose the practice not out of principle, but out of them being cut out of their fair share.
The blockchain can help retain peer-to-peer file-sharing networks, but with more oversight to find out when and where the companies’ properties are being shared, allowing them to take a fee.
Conclusion:
We can expect blockchain technology to have an ever-bigger impact on the global media and online entertainment industry in the coming years.
