Blockchain
Web 3.0 integrating the blockchain technology could help the trillion-dollar entertainment and media industry by democratizing it. It will also help with copyright infringement and monetizing content. But despite the hype, the blockchain segment remains ‘un-exposed.’
Recent digital transformations have brought about a revolution in the entertainment and media industries. Today’s consumers expect immersive content on demand tailored to their preferences and available anytime, anywhere. The rapidly growing number of entertainment options and players can lead to subscription fatigue. So what does it take for a media and entertainment company to stay relevant and competitive in today’s ever-evolving market? An approach that is human-driven? Cutting-edge technology? Personalized storytelling? Or seamless connectivity?
You can combine all these elements under one roof, but with a Blockchain twist. Whether it’s new age media cloud OTT, quality of experience connectivity, or security, the future of media and entertainment with the integration of blockchain.
So here’s a deep dive into how blockchain can play a crucial role in transforming the Media and Entertainment (M&E) industry. Even more so, in helping the ever-growing industry.
Media and Entertainment Industry Growth
The ever-evolving entertainment industry saw incredible growth in 2021. The Media and Entertainment market was worth $2.20 trillion in 2021. The U.S. Media and Entertainment market is valued at $717 billion. The U.S. Media and Entertainment market can grow by 8.90% between now and 2030.
Australian consumers spent $30 billion more than the previous year, a 6.3% increase over the previous year. This was the highest single-year leap in the history of the E&M Outlook, per a report from PwC Australia.
“The largest contributor to consumer spending remains internet access followed by Games and Subscription TV, which made up nearly 60 percent of the remaining A$14.0 billion, both of which are expected to see significant continued growth through the forecast period.”
The growth for the entertainment and media industry stands at 5.50 percent in 2022, reaching a market share of $32.66 billion, according to PwC Australia’s forecast.
This growth was a result of the transformation in the industry. Creators have to create content more quickly than ever before. There’s more content being created than ever before. As such, the entertainment industry looks to technology as a way of empowering the creative community.
Simon Crownshaw is the Microsoft Media and Entertainment Strategy lead. He stated this in a YouTube Video:
“We’re seeing massive disruption in the way that content is consumed, and I think that’s only going to continue. There’s gonna be constant thinking about how we get more and more people to be involved in that content creation process. And then if you layer on top of that, I need to collaborate across borders, for example, to make sure those things happen in real-time because I need to get that stuff done much more quickly.”
Blockchain Technology’s Role in the M&E Industry
Given the growth of the discussed industry and the need for the latest technology, Blockchain continues to play a critical role in further democratizing the rapidly growing M&E space.
As to understanding how blockchain can help the entertainment industry, here’s a straightforward narrative. Blockchain’s decentralization feature makes it attractive because it removes the middleman from the industry. Similarly, within the entertainment domain, the intermediaries’ role is enormous. The intermediaries are able to facilitate their audience by connecting artists in any form, be they journalists, entertainers, or content creators.
Blockchain integration allows the cohort to connect directly with their audience. Creators can monetize and expand their work. Blockchain also has a direct application in digital rights management.
Protecting Rights
Today’s digital rights management solutions are complicated because they must be developed to support a variety of business models such as music streaming and set-abox consumption via multiple devices. Today’s ownership and usage data are siloed with record companies, movie studios, publishers, distributors, and so on in fairly complex ways.
The real interest in blockchain technology is in how it can be used to create self-executing smart contracts. These contracts can help make digital rights management in the entertainment industry transparent, accessible and understandable, as well as help with monetizing assets quickly.
One fun fact is that Game of Thrones Season 7 received over 1 billion views per September 2017 report. Surprisingly, total legal views accounted for only 16 million, raising the need for blockchain tech to help monetize creators’ work.
Source: Variety
The Intersection of Web3 & Content Creation
Entertainment could also benefit from the rising demand for web3. Web3 allows many creators to share content they have never seen before. This is just one of the many aims of Web3 to help artists and creators who have been constrained by a bureaucratic business-first, conservative, and risk-averse bureaucracy.
Navdeep Sharma (creator of ReelStar) spoke to BeInCrypto about this subject. Per the company’s claims, ReelStar is the first ‘everything app’ developed from the ground up on a decentralized web3 multi-blockchain platform with integrated live streaming, video sharing, peer-to-peer chat, audio/video calling, NFT minting, NFT marketplace, and a Digital Wallet with unique functionalities.
The app looked to ‘rebalance the economics of content creation, engagement, and value for both creators and the appreciators of their creativity with the help of blockchain technology.’
Thoughts on the Subject
Tokenizing the value of one’s creative work can vastly improve how it’s portrayed in the digital world. Artists have the ability to take back control of what and where they are used by creating content using NFTs.
Web3 could be the next technological leap and has been hailed as a new age of blockchain-powered revolution. It is still relatively new and less exposed to extreme circumstances.
Additionally, regulations for this niche need to be clarified. Due to the increasing popularity of blockchain technologies, whether web3 or not, regulatory watchdogs will need to enforce strict regulations. This may or may not question the “decentralization” concept behind this sector.