How blockchain is revolutionizing the content ecosystem

From terrestrial transmission in the 70s to the telecom and satellite era in the 80s, and then the internet revolution in the mid-2000s, content creation, distribution and consumption have undergone a radical change.

On the other hand, despite bringing content to everyone’s fingertips, not one major aspect of content and its relationship with creators and fans has changed – the linear nature of how content is funded, created and consumed. While crowdsourced films and documentaries have tried to reimagine this, content creation is still dominated by the same linear model of a sponsor funding a project and a distributor (in most cases the sponsor themselves) putting it out into the world.

The linear nature exists primarily because the funding source and means of dissemination are not currently owned by the fans or the creators. OTT platforms have done a fantastic job of finding and funding new content and creators, but they are a replacement for linear pay TV. Over the past decade, people have become accustomed to watching their favorite shows whenever they want.

So why change?

Content creation is entering a new era where creators and fans are at the center of the experience. As creators become their own brands and fans connect to form communities, it goes beyond funding and distributing content – ​​it’s about an inclusive creative process.

And blockchain-based platforms may hold the answer to where content and entertainment can go next.

The circular content economy

To evolve from the linear model of content today to a more circular model where the success of any content benefits both creators and consumers, we need to identify and decentralize the most centralized parts of the content value chain (i.e.)

1. Helps creators diversify their source of funding
2. Decentralization of the dissemination of content and allow content creators and their fans to get a greater share of the commercial success of content
3. Building a community centered around the creator’s digital collectibles that act as a universal passport to elevate celebrity-fan interactivity with meet-and-greets to exclusive merchandise and community marketing of projects

Create a sustainable source of funding

The first way blockchain can contribute is by helping creators diversify their source of funding through platforms that allow them to raise sustainable funding from fans and other admirers. Some platforms already help creators find fans who will directly fund their project or at least be a part of it, allowing content creators and their fans to receive a greater share of the commercial success of content in addition to keeping the IPs their and enable direct interaction with fans.

Democratizing mediation

Further up the content stream, dissemination of content is a path for blockchain to disrupt. Just like how the internet has allowed anyone to become a content creator, blockchain will allow anyone to become a content distributor. This will lead to more democratic and decentralized communication. There are already interesting projects experimenting with this model.

From there, once the content is created, it can be distributed on blockchain-powered OTT platforms, which share ad revenue with both viewers and content creators. This is a big improvement over the current OTT model, where content creators typically only receive a fraction of the revenue generated after reaching a certain scale. What is fascinating about this model is that because of how blockchain protocols are built, decentralized platforms for funding and hosting are interoperable.

Creates community

On a decentralized platform, viewers can earn rewards while consuming content from a creator they like, and then use their earnings to fund the creator’s next project. Once the project is complete, the creator and fans can use decentralized infrastructure to stream and monetize the content in a way that benefits network participants, creators and fans. Along the way, fans can purchase digital collectibles of their favorite creators that give them access to screenings, script previews and other experiential benefits with the creators.

That’s the power of the circular content economy, which just isn’t possible in today’s world of slick attention-driven apps and big-budget blockbusters. We are not too far away from the day when the power returns to those who matter: the creators and their fans.

The future of the circular content economy

In a decentralized world, creators will have ownership of intellectual property and exercise greater control over the distribution of their work. This will allow them to express themselves freely and communities become an integral part of the creative process using smart contracts that facilitate the distribution of funds from fans directly to creators.

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