The blockchain is becoming ever more ubiquitous in almost every aspect of human life today. From banking to supply chain management and even the music industry, the blockchain seems to be everywhere.

The frontiers of digital technology are being pushed to new heights by the disruptive and revolutionary technology that was introduced by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008. Now, popular international music DJ, Gareth Emery is looking to leverage the power of the blockchain into disrupting and transforming the music industry.

Choon: The Blockchain-based Publishing and Distribution Platform for the Music Industry

Blockchain technology and cryptocurrency are becoming major topics in the music industry. Acts such as RAC and Gramatik have applied cryptocurrency to their music with the former releasing an album on the Ethereum blockchain and the latter creating his own cryptocurrency called GRMTK.

American rapper Lupe Fiasco and singer Imogen Heap are also strong advocates of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology applications in the music industry.

Choon is the brainchild of Gareth Emery in conjunction with John Watkinson and Matt Hall who are both blockchain technology experts and good friends of Emery’s. Choon is a blockchain solution that is designed to provide a platform that gives artists complete control over their intellectual property.

It also serves as an avenue for artists to share their works and interact directly with the listening public without the involvement of middlemen.

The Payment Distribution Problem in the Music Industry

Music is estimated to be a $16 billion industry with the bulk of that money going to record labels and other third-party intermediaries. There is a general feeling among musicians and recording artists that they are increasingly becoming more sidelined in the industry as far as the payment structure is concerned.

Streaming services have all but made the music business unprofitable for musicians. Popular acts like Taylor Swift and JayZ have in the past taken a swipe at the payment distribution structure of the industry calling it unfair to the artists.

The emergence of easy access to music online via streaming services has been developed to the detriment of fair compensation to artists.

What Choon Aims to Achieve

In an interview with Forbes contributor, Andrew Rossow, Gareth Emery recognized the need for adapting blockchain technology to the current framework in a way that benefits the artists. According to Emery, it is important that music is “accessible and easy to get hold of”, much the same way it is today.

However, Emery desires a situation where this does not lead to artists not getting full compensation for their creative properties.

Using NOTE tokens, the native cryptocurrency token of the Choon platform, fans and listeners will be able to purchase music. By so doing, Emery believes that an immediate flow of payment is established between the artist and the listener.

This payment flow since it is based on a blockchain architecture will be transparent and well-secured. Artists will no longer have to wait for years to earn royalties from streaming services and the 1-1 relationship engenders a quicker flow of money.

Smart contract protocols built into the Choon platform will simplify the music licensing process by eliminating fees for expensive legal counsel. Artists will be able to decide to sell or retain rights to their music which will be controlled by robust smart contracting protocols.

The Road Ahead for Choon

According to Emery, the project team at Choon is complying with all the necessary regulatory guidelines. He admitted that it doing their due diligence does slow down the process considerably but stability is something that he believes is more important.

The total supply of NOTE tokens during the first 5 years will be capped at 80 million. Half of that number will be distributed to artists on the platform at the rate of 21,917 tokens every day. A pro rata sharing formula based on the total number of streams on the platform will be used to distribute the tokens.

Feature image by Felippe Silveira