Blockchain Revolution

FAIR TRADE MUSIC: FROM STREAMING MUSIC TO METERING
RIGHTS
“If Scout ever did end up being a musician, how on earth would she make money?
She wouldn’t be able to,” said Imogen Heap of her daughter’s music career, were it
dependent on the current music industry model. “We need something really simple
and core, something trustworthy, for people to feel that music is something they can
do for a living.”
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Paul Pacifico agreed: “We want a music industry that reflects the
cultural, technological, social, and commercial sense of our times and allows for a
sustainable and viable future for creators and consumers alike.”
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Heap has teamed up
with Pacifico, Vinay Gupta, and others to create this new music ecosystem.
If there were a prediction market for innovations, we’d bet on Team Heap. In
2009, she became the first woman to win a Grammy solo for engineering her own
album, Ellipse. She took all her Twitter followers to the award ceremony by wearing
what has become known as the “Twitter dress.” Her outfit, designed by Moritz
Waldemeyer, featured an LED zipper that streamed her fans’ tweets around her
shoulders. In 2013, Heap kick-started the nonprofit Mi.Mu to invent a musical glove
system. It combines mapping software with motion detection sensors so that
performers can control lights, music, and video with user-customized gestures. The
invention won top prize at the 2015 Berlin Awards for WearableIT/FashionTech. The
gloves are quickly catching on. Pop star Ariana Grande posted this message on
YouTube with her video cover of Heap’s “Hide and Seek”: “want to thank my idol
@imogenheap for allowing me to use the Mimu gloves on my first ever world tour.”
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If anyone doubts Heap’s ability to rally a community around new technology, think
again.

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“We really know what we want,” Heap said. “We’re not a bunch of airheads who
like to smoke pot in our living rooms and make music. We’re hardworking
entrepreneurs.”
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Heap views blockchain technology as a new platform for creators of
intellectual property to get fair value for it. Smart contracts in particular could
eliminate the magnitude of industry complexity, simplifying a mission-critical role of
music labels in this ecosystem.