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Alright mates, the music industry is fucking broken—artists are left with crumbs while labels and streaming platforms take the lion’s share.
Today, we’re exploring how blockchain could shake things up, offering artists a fairer deal and fans a real stake. This is Unlocking the Future—let’s dive in.
What’s Blockchain Doing in Music? 🎵
The Music Industry’s Dirty Laundry 💰
How Blockchain Fits In 🔗
Who’s Already Rocking It? 🎧
Challenges & Roadblocks ⚠️
Future of Music on the Blockchain 🔮
Our Take 📝
What’s Blockchain Doing in Music?🎵
Blockchain—the tech behind Bitcoin—is making waves in music. By March 2025, the blockchain music market has hit $57M, up from $15.2M in 2020 at a 32.2% CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate).
Still small next to the $30B industry, but it’s tackling unfair payouts, rights chaos, and label greed with a tamper-proof ledger. Instant payouts for artists? Fans owning tracks? It’s real—and it’s growing fast!
The Music Industry’s Dirty Laundry 💰
Labels Taking the Piss: Labels often claim up to 80%—a $1m track leaves artists with $200k, sometimes just 12% of the $43bn total. Big names like Nasmight negotiate 50%.
Streaming Shortfall: Spotify offers $0.003/stream—333,333 streams for $1,000, with 70% of artists earning under $1,000 yearly.
Rights Mess: Ownership’s a bloody tangle—40% of royalties go unclaimed because of dodgy paperwork and delays stretching months or years.
How Blockchain Fits In 🔗
Smart Contracts: Auto-deals on Ethereum, Solana, or Flow pay artists 70% instantly in USDC—Ethereum transactions may reach 10m in 2025, Audius at $20m.
NFTs & Ownership: Sell tracks for $1,000 with 10% resale royalties or album shares—NFT market’s $100m, Nas on Royal at $50m.
Decentralised Revenue: Platforms like HIO Music ($10m revenue) pay artists 100% in crypto, fans earn via Diplo’s $600k NFT haul.
Who’s Already Rocking It? 🎧
Blockchain’s music revolution isn’t just theory—these platforms are making moves:
Royal: $50M in fan investments by 2025 (up from $10M in 2022). Fans buy royalty shares—3LAU,Nas and Diplo onboard! Expected to reach $75M as more artists tokenize, with a mobile app likely next.
Audius: Built on Ethereum and Solana - 10M users, $20M paid, targeting 15M users and $30M in payouts.
Sound.xyz: With 500k users and $10m in sales by 2025, up from $2m in 2023. Expect: $20m in sales as it hooks more big acts
HIO Music: 5M users, $10M revenue, expected to double.
Sony’sSoneium: Now holds 10% of Sony’s catalogue, expanding NFT drops.
Cooprecs.fun: Coop’s Base-built app lets users invest in tracks like "stocks".
Each song launches with 1 billion coins.
Once 80% sells for 3.1 ETH, a Uniswap liquidity pool starts.
Artists earn 0.5% on every trade—more trading, more earnings.
Now live on Farcaster as a Frame, letting fans listen and collect from their feed. Check it out HERE.
Challenges & Roadblocks ⚠️
Adoption: Only 31% of music pros used blockchain in 2022—by 2025, maybe 50%, but artists and fans still think it’s crypto gobbledegook.
Legal Muddle: Copyright laws are stuck in the ‘90s—NFT royalties are a legal grey zone, and a 2024 EU directive’s still half-baked.
Tech Hiccups: Streaming billions of tracks? Tough—Ethereum’s gas fees sting, Solana’s scalability’s tested, and energy use might hit 0.1% of global power.
Future of Music on the Blockchain 🔮
Creator Power: Artists owning masters, setting prices, and building crews—labels could be knackered. By 2030, 20% of music revenue might flow through blockchain, up from 0.2% in 2023.
Fan Revolution: Tokenized tunes turn fans into investors—think gig tickets or VIP perks via NFTs, hitting $500m by 2028.
Sony & Coop’s Play: Soneium could scale to 20% of global rights, while Coop Protocol’s $1 model might spark a creator-first wave, eyeing 10m users by 2027.
Percs Partners 🤝
Before we're heading to Our Take, we want to give a massive shout out to our partners at Percs, the masterminds behind free marketing tools for onchain creators and Farcaster Games!
Go check them out on Farcaster and X and get involved!
Our Take 📝
This blockchain beat’s picking up pace. Will it rewrite the rulebook or fade out? We’re all ears—stay tuned as it unfolds!
What’s your shout? Will blockchain save artists or baffle the punters? Drop us a line—we’ll riff on it next time!
Cheers for rocking with us, crew. The future’s humming with blockchain vibes—let’s keep unlocking it together!
