In an age when music is consumed instantly across the world, it is not unusual to hear artists say they still wait months or even years to get paid, but why is that?

The financial uncertainty created by payment delays limits artists' ability to invest in their careers, pay collaborators, or simply cover monthly expenses. We’re working on fixing this once and for all.

I. A system built for a different era

The current music royalty infrastructure wasn't designed for the digital age. While fans can stream songs instantly with almost any device, the money from those streams navigates a complex maze of intermediaries, databases, and payment systems before reaching artists. This isn't just inconvenient, it creates real financial hardships.

For independent artists, waiting 3-6 months for royalty payments can mean difficult choices between paying rent or funding their next project. For artists in regions with limited banking access or experiencing high inflation, the challenges multiply as traditional payment methods often exclude them entirely. Despite generating almost $30 billion annually, the recorded music industry still runs on payment systems designed when CDs were the new thing.

II. Music payments that make sense today

If we designed music payments from scratch, what would they look like? They'd probably mirror the music consumption experience itself – instant, borderless, and digital. Just as fans can stream a song the moment it's released from anywhere in the world, creators would receive their earnings with the same immediacy. Payments would flow as smoothly as the music itself.

In this ideal world, artists would see revenue appear in real-time as streams accumulate. Geographic borders would be meaningless; an artist in Argentina could receive payments just as quickly as one in Copenhagen. The system would automatically handle collaborations, splitting earnings among contributors without paperwork or disputes.

This probably sounds too good to be true. It's not an easy thing to achieve, but it's not impossible (with the right approach). We’re building alongside existing music industry systems rather than trying to create something entirely new. Record labels, distributors, and streaming services aren't disappearing anytime soon – the solution must work with them, not against them. We talked about this thoroughly in our first editorial at Friends with Benefits.

Friends With Benefits

@FWBtweets

New editorial “A Decade of Tokenization in Music: Where do we go from here?” by @originalworks_

After a decade of tokenization experiments, we've learned that creating parallel economies doesn't solve the fundamental problems.

The @originalworks_ approach? Fix the systems

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9:39 PM • Mar 25, 2025

III. Okay but, how does it actually work?

Original Works enables payments that once took months to reach artists in minutes through digital dollars (USDC) that work across borders without traditional banking delays. USDC is a regulated digital currency that maintains a stable 1:1 value with the US dollar, making it as reliable as traditional currency but far more efficient to transfer. For artists in regions with high inflation or limited banking services, this means faster access to earnings and protection against currency volatility, all with lower fees than PayPal and other traditional payment services.

Beyond speed, the system delivers critical improvements to transparency and financial options. Artists can verify their ownership rights while sensitive deal terms remain private. This same verification will enable musicians to access advances against their proven streaming income without surrendering IP rights; a stark contrast to traditional deals that often require giving up ownership for years.

IV. Not a walled garden, but open for everyone

However, isolated solutions won't fix a fragmented industry either. That is why the tech is open-source and built for collaboration, not control. Music distributors and labels can integrate these tools without disrupting existing workflows. The system works with standard formats (like DDEX) already used throughout the industry, but makes it way faster and verifiable.

Original Works

@originalworks_

We cut ZK-Proof processing time from 16 hours to 3 minutes in our latest implementation for the music industry.

Here's how we did it leveraging @RiscZero zkVM ↓

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5:43 PM • Mar 10, 2025

No single company or stakeholder controls how it works, either. Being decentralized by nature, independent validators secure the network. The result? Artists get paid through their existing channels, but faster.

Whether you're curious about how these systems work or ready to explore specific implementations – visit our website or join our community at hub.original.works

As we head into the Easter weekend, we wish you a restful and rejuvenating break. We're excited to share more about our progress and the evolving conversation around music royalties in the coming weeks.

Enjoy the long weekend!

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About Original Works

Original Works builds infrastructure to modernize how music royalties are processed and distributed. We connect existing industry systems with technology that enables faster payments, transparent rights verification, and new financial options without requiring rights holders to change how they work. Our mission is to create a more efficient ecosystem that benefits everyone in the music value chain - from major labels to independent artists, worldwide.