Hacktivism Intent – Matt Carlson, Cam Bilodeau
Hacktivism Intent – Music Streaming Crisis
To create an application and new streaming service that will allow artists to make more money per stream.
Since the early 2000’s music has been streaming whether from their phones, tablets, or computers at a mp3 resolution either at home or on the go. Streaming has been the biggest advancement in the music industry for the consumers, with only having to pay a low amount of money, consumers are able to access endless amounts of music. Music streaming has enhanced the music industry because of the unknown artists that are coming from streaming services, anyone is able to post their music to the streaming services and is easily able to be recognized. This, however, is putting a dent into the total revenue artist are receiving for their music, Low payout rates are causing musicians to not quite get as much money as they should, and this is causing artists like Taylor Swift, Calvin Harris, and Ed Sheeran to opt out of streaming services.
- The idea for our intent is to Design a Music Streaming app that uses blockchain technology used in cryptocurrencies to ensure musicians to paid fairly for the streams and sales of the artist music, embracing this technology could add a clear debate to musicians who want fair income from streaming services. Our application would allow for any artist to post their music on our application and instantly receive their money that was generated from the track allowing the artist to receive full royalties for the track and would ensure that music labels and publishers do not hold on to royalties before sending them to the musicians, this would “eliminate concerns about accidental or intentional underpayment of royalties”. This application will not only offer fair royalties to the artist and record label but will help upcoming artist be noticed just like streaming services today such as SoundCloud, hype machine, and Spotify it can be a win-win for the music industry.
- This is important for the music industry because the industry and artist are losing billions from music right now on Spotify and Apple Music, especially artist who rely solely on these platforms and is tough for up-and-coming musicians trying to make a living off their art. Right now for artist on Spotify, they receive $0.0167 per play and that’s for artist well known, other streaming services surprisingly give artist even a lower amount per play. This is causing outrage in the Industry for artist because their art is worth a lot more then what they are sending out and in today’s society the streaming services are dominating the market in the music industry and artist feel this is the only strong conservative way to get music out there, in a sense it is causing musicians art to be valued as nothing when artist put their life into what they love to do.
- The strategy is to provide a streaming service that enables a cryptocurrency system to automate royalty payments straight to the artist or record label and according to the set terms with the artist additional revenue from their music will be automatically sent to them splitting profits between our streaming platform, artist and record label fairly and would increase revenue in the music industry allowing up-and-coming artist to make a living off their art.
- The audience that we want to target is teens, young adults, adults and most importantly all artist who are willing to make a living out of there music. We hope this platform will influence Artist to make a living out of music and the consumers to purchase artist music so they are able to receive fair income. Many artists out in the world that are unknown who want their music out there and make a living out of what they do as well as everyday listeners to receive endless amounts of music for a $5 increase in monthly payment of what is being paid already for streaming platforms.
Rough budget for material:
- Coding Software – HTML/CSS or atom, and XCode
- Knowing how to code
- Cryptocurrency technology
- Music Rights Ownership
- Rough Estimate:
Time:
- 4 weeks to get a cryptocurrency to abide by the musical rights for streaming services and artists
- 1 week to have a layout of the application, design structure, and material
- 3 months to code, launch and promote the application with the well known up-and-coming artist.
Space needed:
- Can be done anywhere with a computer and space for a team to begin working on the project
2 thoughts on “Hacktivism Intent – Matt Carlson, Cam Bilodeau”
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This is a potentially good idea if backed up by more specifics about how this APP would be different (how would it earn more $ for artists?, famous artists or all artists? would subscribers pay more or pirate more?etc).
Crypto currency my be an interesting idea but would all artists accept this currency? if not would there be a split music world? Or is there a way crypto currency might catch on despite its recent volatility?
The screen shots are a good touch, but they don’t really give me any sense of how the APP would work (think about the app images in the APP store for example). You may want to have the interface sho more about HOW this APP would be different, how it would work.
There is potential here–but you’ll need a bit more research, and a more convincing plan.
Concept
what media is the intent/project? 1-1, 1-many, many-many?
This project seems like it is a many-to-many type of project. This is because it seems like (I say seems like, because the proposal for this app is actually pretty vague) the artists get more of a say while the users get to influence the direction of the app. The users influence how seriously artists wil take the app, while the artists influence the types of users that will be there.
does the idea enlist any of the New Media Strategies? If so which & how?
This project is all about creating a product that is user and consumer friendly. That is a huge part of New Media. It also mentions having crypto currency being a form of payment for the artists and their labels, but I am not sure how that would be done. With the ever changing rates of the different forms of crypto currency, it seems like that idea would not go over very well. It seems like a bit of a gamble for the artist?
what major issue(s) does the project engage?
This projects engages the major issue of artists not receiving their fair dues from streaming services. They mention that well known artist will receive only $0.0167 per stream, but they do not really give a source with that, so I am not sure how inclined I am to believe them.
does the concept interest you?
The concept does kind of interest me. I think that an app like this is needed, and I really do think that this generation would be all for a fair streaming service, especially if it were advertised as such, with statistics to back it up if the users chose to explore it further.
Design
is the design clear and appropriate?
I do not think that design is very clear at all. The screenshots are pretty much just screenshots of Spotify, and they do not help me to understand how this concept would actually work.
does the design invite attention and/or participation?
The design does. It requires participation in order for it work out at all.
Technical
what tech is used? is it appropriate?
The technology that is used is the user’s phone. It is very appropriate, I think. Smart phones are so widespread that it is one of the best platforms to reach and connect people with.
what is the cost? is it affordable for most people? the planet? is it sustainable?
There is no estimated cost on this proposal. I think that it would be affordable for most people. They mention that it would only cost about $5.00 more per month than most other streaming services, which is less than the cost of a Netflix account.
Audience
who is the intended audience?
The intended audience is anyone that listens to music, as well as music artists, well known or up-and-coming.
how is the project geared to the audience?
The project is geared to the audience by streaming music that the user wants to hear, and by making it a fair trade for the artists.
would the project appeal to or challenge the audience? how/why?
I think that the project would do both, While I think that people really do care about this issue, most people are cheap and will choose the cheapest price for a streaming service. Five dollars is a lot of money per month, it’s an extra $60 dollars per year – a significant increase. I cannot even afford a student discount Spotify premium account right now.
Creativity
does the idea stem from some personal passion of the creator?
I am not sure. They make no mention of this.
can you detect the mark of a particular sensibility?
I think so. This person seems pretty passionate about fair pay for an artist’s work. Even if they are not well known, if their music is being enjoyed by other people, why shouldn’t they receive a decent pay?