Spotify has acquired US blockchain startup Mediachain Labs to help develop technology for better connecting rightsholders with the tracks played via the streaming service.
According to Tech Crunch, the Mediachain Labs team will move to Spotify’s New York offices, bringing their technological expertise in building attribution chains and cryptocurrency.
This will assist Spotify in correctly identifying and remunerating rightsholders associated with the music that its users play on the platform.
The news follows the recent move from PRS for Music and sister societies GEMA (Germany) and ASCAP (US) to harness blockchain technology to manage the links between music recordings’ International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) and musical works’ International Standard Work Codes (ISWCs).
The goal of the project is to prototype how the music industry could create and adopt a shared, decentralised database of musical work metadata with real-time update and tracking capabilities.
Over the last 18 months, blockchain technology has been heralded by some in the music industry as a solution to managing increased volumes and complexity of music rights and usage data in the digital marketplace.
It has become well-known for its use in payments systems for its ability to manage records without centralised governance – a characteristic that can be harnessed to resolve issues between conflicting identifiers for the same work across multiple rightsholders.
Related:
ASCAP, GEMA, PRS for Music join forces on blockchain project
Music and metadata: is blockchain the answer?
According to Tech Crunch, the Mediachain Labs team will move to Spotify’s New York offices, bringing their technological expertise in building attribution chains and cryptocurrency.
This will assist Spotify in correctly identifying and remunerating rightsholders associated with the music that its users play on the platform.
The news follows the recent move from PRS for Music and sister societies GEMA (Germany) and ASCAP (US) to harness blockchain technology to manage the links between music recordings’ International Standard Recording Codes (ISRCs) and musical works’ International Standard Work Codes (ISWCs).
The goal of the project is to prototype how the music industry could create and adopt a shared, decentralised database of musical work metadata with real-time update and tracking capabilities.
Over the last 18 months, blockchain technology has been heralded by some in the music industry as a solution to managing increased volumes and complexity of music rights and usage data in the digital marketplace.
It has become well-known for its use in payments systems for its ability to manage records without centralised governance – a characteristic that can be harnessed to resolve issues between conflicting identifiers for the same work across multiple rightsholders.
Related:
ASCAP, GEMA, PRS for Music join forces on blockchain project
Music and metadata: is blockchain the answer?
