When Shopify launched its first mobile app in 2010, most consumers didn’t feel comfortable making large purchases from a mobile device. To put it in perspective, the Apple App Store had only been around for two years. Consumers weren’t ordering pizza from their mobile devices, let alone spending $86.37 - the average 2018 Black Friday online order size from more than 650,000 Shopify powered stores.

But Shopify has notoriously played the long game - positioning itself as a mobile-first platform when phones were phones and computers were computers.

This is why we’re paying special attention to Shopify’s recent move towards integration with cryptocurrencies. Mobile devices have advanced tremendously over the past 8 years, and we expect the same from crypto. One technology that we’re watching closely is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network.

Lightning in the Music Industry

The Lightning Network is a “second layer protocol” which allows for instantaneous transactions at virtually no cost. Seems like a good fit - the music business has long been plagued by a lack of transparency and timely payments, mostly at the expense of creatives. Fortunately for artists, technology tends to eliminate inefficiencies.

The first and most obvious outcome of the Lightning Network on the music industry would be a reduced transaction cost for fans purchasing music, merch or concert tickets. These transactions, happening online or in person, would be immediate and cost a fraction of a penny.

New models for music consumption could be introduced. A streaming service that utilizes micro-payments, as opposed to Spotify’s existing “pro rata” system, would result in a much fairer distribution of revenue to smaller artists who aren’t charting on Billboard.

Here’s another example: At the end of a concert, fans could send a small amount of crypto to a posted QR code and immediately receive the official audio from the show. Imagine the quality of fan-captured content that would emerge if iPhone concert videos were matched with official audio.

These are just a few ideas. It’s up to all of us to apply new technologies and bring about a music business in which creatives are paid fairly and on time. But how does this technology work? Where is this all coming from? Let’s take a closer look.

Crowded Places

Cryptocurrencies finally reached a point of popular awareness during the insane run-up at the end of 2017. Hype was at an all-time high and the sheer number of transactions overloaded the Bitcoin network. As a result, transactions became slow and expensive. The brief explanation is that every transaction took place “on-chain”.