Midem

Midem 2017: Blockchain & Copyright

The big Blockchain & Copyright panel at Midem on Thursday, featuring RightsTech Summit alums Benji Rogers, co-founder of the dotBlockchain Music project, and attorney Sophie Goossens, focused more on metadata and the mechanics of smart contracts than on issues related to copyight per se. But it was a very interesting and useful discussion nonetheless, especially in addressing the incentive problem inherent to persuading organizations that control proprietary data sets to share their data in the interests of the industry as a whole.

Here’s the full video of the panel:

 

From YouTube to the blockchain: how music and tech are colliding in 2016 

The annual Midem conference, which turned 50 this year, used to be a glamorous affair where more than 10,000 music execs gathered to strike deals and flaunt their (large) expenses budgets in the hotel bars of Cannes.

In 2016, Midem is much smaller – “4,400 or so” delegates according to its organiser – and with many fewer high-rollers in the bars, but a lot more discussion on conference stages about the digital present and future for music.

Source: From YouTube to the blockchain: how music and tech are colliding in 2016 | Technology | The Guardian

How can blockchain change the music industry?

The potential impact of the blockchain is a well-trodden path at industry events in recent months, but a panel at the Midem conference today aimed to find some new aspects to discuss.

On the panel: Joe Conyers III, VP of technology for Downtown Music Publishing; Vinay Gupta, release coordinator and general strategist for Ethereum; musician Imogen Heap, who has been exploring the blockchain’s potential with her Mycelia project; and Revelator CEO Bruno Guez. The moderator was Allen Bargfrede of Rethink Music at the Berklee College of Music.

Source: How can blockchain change the music industry?

Midia Research: ‘The role of curated playlists has accelerated’

The Today’s Top Hits stats come from a presentation at Midem today by industry consultant Mark Mulligan, based on data supplied by Spotify for the latest report by his company Midia Research.

After kicking off his session by pointing out that 26% of streaming subscribers have stopped buying more than an album a month, while 32% are listening to less radio, Mulligan drew the audience’s attention to the growing role of in-house playlists on Spotify and Apple Music.

“The role of curated playlists has accelerated just in the last three months,” said Mulligan. “People are having to work out on the fly how they respond to the changes to cash-flow, to breaking discovering artists.”

Source: Mark Mulligan: ‘The role of curated playlists has accelerated’

Music discovery, recommendation, creation startups at Midem

Tracklib is a new music marketplace where people discover, buy and license stems from original tracks. CEO Pär Almqvist presented its technology. “We’ve sampled since the 1970s, but getting access to separate stems is almost possible, and buying a commercial licence is very complicated and expensive,” he said.

“So DJs and producers turn to piracy… Talented producers are stuck with generic sounds, and sound designers are kinda stuck in the elevator with catalogue music.” Tracklib thinks the potential market for these “music building blocks” is enormous.

Source: Music discovery, recommendation, creation startups at #Midem

Get the latest RightsTech news and analysis delivered directly in your inbox every week
We respect your privacy.