Blockchain and NFTs are changing the publishing industry

Web3 has become the most sought-after investment sector in 2022, as use cases for non-fungible tokens (NFT), Metaverse and other blockchain applications come to fruition. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that various segments of the publishing industry have begun to use Web3 technologies to transform traditional models.

For example, textbook publishing giant Pearson recently announced plans to use NFTs to track digital textbook sales to capture lost revenue on the secondary market. Time magazine, which was founded 99 years ago, has also used NFTs to create new revenue streams, along with a sense of community in the publishing industry. Keith Grossman, the president of Time, told Cointelegraph that the magazine demonstrates the new opportunities for engagement that Web3 brings to the publishing industry. He said:

“Web3 can develop one’s brand in a world where individuals are moving from online tenants to online owners, and privacy is beginning to move from platforms to the individual.”

Web3 enables a community of content owners

While it may seem unconventional for one of the oldest and most respected magazine publishers in the industry to host an NFT gallery, Grossman explained that Time has dropped nearly 30,000 NFTs to date. He added that these are collected from over 15,000 wallet addresses, of which 7,000 are connected to Time.com to remove the paywall without having to provide personal information. “Along the way, the TIMEPiece community has grown to over 50,000 individuals,” Grossman pointed out.

To put this into perspective, Grossman explained that in September 2021, Time launched a Web3 community initiative known as TIMEPieces. This project is a digital gallery hosted at the NFT marketplace OpenSea, which has brought together 89 artists, photographers and even musicians. “The number of TIMEPiece artists has grown from 38 to 89. That includes the likes of Drift, Cath Simard, Diana Sinclair, Micah Johnson, Justin Aversano, FVCKRENDER, Victor Mosquera and Baeige, to name a few,” said Grossman.

While notable, the more important aspect of this growth lies within the distinction between “audience” versus “community.” According to Grossman, very few people in the publishing industry distinguish between these two groups, but he noted that Web3 presents a “tremendous opportunity for those willing to explore this oversight.” For example, Grossman explained that an audience simply engages with content momentarily. However, he pointed out that a community is in line with shared values ​​and is given the opportunity for constant involvement. He said:

“Healthy ‘communities’ have moats that make them harder to disrupt or circumvent. However, they require a lot of work to develop and nurture. The long-term benefit of a community is stability – and publishing is anything but stable.”

In fact, NFTs may be the key to giving the publishing world the stability and audience interaction it requires to move forward. As Cointelegraph previously reported, brands are using NFTs in a variety of ways to better engage with customers over time.

Other sectors of the publishing industry are beginning to use NFTs for this very reason. For example, Royal Joh. Enschedé, a 300-year-old Dutch printing company, is entering the Web3 space by providing its customers with an NFT platform for “cryptostamps.” Gelmer Leibbrandt, CEO of Royal Joh. Enschedé told Cointelegraph that the stamp and philately world is very traditional, noting that non-fungible tokens will allow for expansion. He said:

“The crypto stamp opens up a global market that will appeal not only to the classic stamp collectors, but also to collectors in their teens, twenties and thirties who buy, save and trade NFTs. This is naturally very attractive to our core customers – over 60 national postal organizations worldwide.”

According to Leibbrandt, Royal Joh. Enschedé started thinking about ways to use blockchain technology over two years ago, but the Dutch printing company decided to start with crypto stamps because of its utility and market fit. Leibbrandt explained that not only will stamp collectors be able to own a unique NFT, but the non-fungible tokens will also serve as “digital twins” meant to provide an extra layer of security and authentication to their physical products.

Leibbrandt also pointed out that connecting physical objects with their digital counterparts gives customers additional functions. While he noted that crypto stamps are just the beginning of Royal Joh. Enschedé’s Web3 journey, he explained that the company has started developing “notables”, which are meant to compete with secure printed banknotes. He explained:

“By using special printing techniques, we can, among other things, add augmented reality, which in turn gives access to special online campaigns and a communication platform. Notables are unique and the NFT item can be used as a collectible, along with a means of payment in the Metaverse.”

Like Time, cryptostamps and notables enable Royal Joh. Enschedé to build a community of collectors who are able to engage with the platform and each other. “All kinds of new applications can be linked to these, for example access to real events like Formula 1 or Tomorrowland, where just a few notes entitle you to VIP packages. We are building our business for the next 100 years.” Leibbrandt added.

Furthermore, independent news organizations are beginning to use Web3 technologies to solve one of the biggest challenges facing the media industry today – “fake news”. For example, Bywire.news is a decentralized news platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and blockchain to identify fake or misleading news content. Michael O’Sullivan, CEO of Bywire, told Cointelegraph that the platform has built and implemented a “trust or not” algorithm. “This can give readers an ‘at a glance’ assurance that the content served on the Bywire.news platform is reliable and that those who produce it are indeed responsible,” he said.

O’Sullivan explained that Bywire’s AI technology is able to “read” an article within seconds before it goes live to determine the trustworthiness of the content. Once this is established, the algorithm generates a recommendation, along with the rationale behind the determination. “Why is important because it helps consumers become aware of the motives and intentions of content producers,” O’Sullivan said.

Though innovative, O’Sullivan pointed out that any independent news organization can aggregate its news content into Bywire, exposing it to tens of thousands of readers per month. Like other publishers using Web3 technology, O’Sullivan noted that Bywire has a community of readers tied to the platform, noting that those people are encouraged to read the content. “Each reader gets a free EOS account and can start earning token rewards immediately, which can later be used in the democratic oversight of the network.”

Will Web3 advance the publishing industry?

Although Web3 has the potential to transform the publishing industry by allowing different sectors to reach and interact with new audiences, its impact remains questionable. For example, it has been noted that there is still a lack of clarity among publishers about how blockchain can and should be used.

Lars Seier Christensen, chairman of Concordium – the Swiss blockchain company that runs Royal Joh. Enschedé’s NFT platform – told Cointelegraph that non-fungible tokens currently do not matter to most organizations. However, he believes that NFTs and other Web3 technologies will soon become the norm:

“Let’s take a step back from the acronym NFT because it can be confusing. What is proven is that a blockchain can store immutable data – i.e. the records are final and unbreakable, and this data is completely transparent to everyone by easy access to the chain’s search engine.”

As for consumers, Grossman also mentioned that individuals should not use the word NFT, adding that they absolutely do not need to know which blockchain platform is powering these applications. “They should engage with brands based on the experiences offered,” he said. Grossman further noted that the rise of computers sparked constant discussion around technology until Steve Jobs explained that the iPod could hold “1,000 songs in your pocket.” Grossman believes that a moment like this will happen for Web3, but it has yet to come:

“Most people’s perception of NFTs and blockchains is defined by the extremes – extremely good and extremely bad. The reality is that an NFT is just a token that verifies ownership on a blockchain, and education is needed to give businesses and individuals the many the ways it can be used to provide value.”