By: Kumar Kislay, Consultant, Media & Entertainment

Content drives the media industry. And, the content distribution landscape is experiencing frequent and transformational changes, with technological advancements. Digitization and connected networks have equipped distributors and exhibitors with simultaneous worldwide release windows. Also, in order to achieve higher market penetration, distributors are expanding the reach through local partnerships. And, in this entire gamut, online distribution platforms have opened the Pandora’s Box – full of challenges in terms of content licensing, usage tracking and constant monitoring.

In media intellectual property management – content licensing and its protection against un-authorized access is complex, tedious and challenging. Also, it is tough to weigh fair in a digital world, where it is easy to share and distribute contents – so, royalty payment is one of the right-fit scenarios for disruption. The industry, being full of creative contents that present operational challenges in terms of rights conflict or misappropriation of content, acts as an Achilles heel.

So – how media companies are going to counter these challenges?

And, the answer lies with the team of Blockchain-Avengers that offers decentralized and scalable solution to manage the complex distribution models in a digitally connected world.

Blockchain platforms enable tokenization of any tangible or in-tangible media assets (say – film or music). The technology operates on a distributed platform, where stakeholders have access to exactly the same ledger records, making them robust against attacks. The best thing about Blockchain is that it enables a de-centralized digital marketplace which cannot be tampered.

Though Blockchain is currently acting as an energetic boy making lots of noise (nascent stage) – soon this going to establish itself as a matured professional (market capitalization). The blockchain market size is expected to grow from USD 0.41 Billion in 2017 to USD 7.7 Billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 79.6%. As the legal framework becomes available and standardized – it will have the great offerings for media industry, which can’t be resisted in terms of content storage, its delivery, payments and accessibility:

• Effective tracking and management of rights through higher transparency in the distribution process and faster realization of revenues.
• Accurate and quick processing of royalties i.e. this technology redefines how artists are paid in crypto currencies.
• Counter digital piracy by making media contents encoded with a cryptographic transaction on the Blockchain. Enabled by smart-contracts and tokenization of media enables legitimate media uploads, its consumption and payment cycle.

The Media industry has already sensed the need, and there are players who are making their mark through breakthrough results. The Open Music Initiative (OMI) (including major media companies – Sony Music, YouTube, Netflix, Spotify, and Viacom), seeks to modernize royalty payment mechanisms. Additionally, Veredictum – an Australian startup – is developing applications to register scripts on the Blockchain. Another startup, SingularDTV is positioning itself in film industry.

So, no more waiting, and now is the right time to strike!