Calgary-based blockchain developer GuildOne Inc. (GuildOne) and Vancouver-based Beatdapp Software Inc. (Beatdapp) are pleased to announce a three-year exclusive agreement to manage digital rights related to streaming media services in India and Japan using blockchain technologies.
Beatdapp tracks every music stream in real-time to create an immutable record secured by its proprietary blockchain, helping labels and artists identify missing music royalties. GuildOne acts on behalf of digital rights holders, such as artists, labels and producers, to identify when their digital assets have been streamed, calculate the royalties that are associated with those assets and execute the royalty transaction, ensuring all parties get paid what they are owed.
Under the terms of this agreement, GuildOne will use Beatdapp’s services, along with information provided by rights holders to identify entitlements owed to those rights holders, ensuring that they receive accurate royalty payouts. GuildOne will then use its patent-pending ConTracks smart contract technology on R3’s Corda blockchain platform to execute the royalty payments.
James Graham, CEO of GuildOne, states that “This is a transformative event for the streaming industry, bringing together two leaders in the blockchain space to meet the needs of artists, labels and other rights holders.”
Variety reports that streaming media accounted for US$11.1 billion globally in 2019, nearly 80 percent of music sales, with that market share expected to increase in coming years. Goldman Sachs estimates that world-wide streaming music royalties will exceed US$34 billion by 2030. Currently, however, up to 15 percent of streaming play count reports are incorrect, leading to billions of dollars in unpaid royalties.
“Beatdapp’s technology ensures that labels and artists invoice correctly from the outset, and allows DSPs avoid costly, time consuming audits,” said Andrew Batey Co-CEO of Beatdapp. “To partner with a leading expert in the payment space to ensure our verified usage reports yield faster, more accurate payouts to artists and labels is a great outcome for everyone involved. After a year of hard work behind the scenes, we’re delighted that day has come!”
“We are excited to work with the team at Beatdapp and have mutual respect for each other’s technology,” said GuildOne co-founder and CTO Barry Kreiser. “We are particularly looking forward to applying our ConTracks smart contract engine to the burgeoning music royalty market.”
About Beatdapp: Beatdapp is a blockchain-enabled tracking technology that helps rights holders accurately track play counts for invoicing and collecting royalties, without disclosing the personally identifying information of streamers. For streaming services, they help identify streaming fraud, reduce audit costs, reduce the reporting burden for product teams, and help verify publishing market share for payouts in emerging markets.
About GuildOne: GuildOne is a pioneering technology company providing advanced data solutions and business intelligence to organizations to enhance their business performance. In 2018, GuildOne conducted the world’s first blockchain oil and gas royalty transaction on Energy Block Exchange (EBX), its energy blockchain business network built on R3’s Corda platform. It has since launched ConTracks, its patent-pending smart contract engine, and developed new use cases across industries, including oil and gas, and entertainment.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20200527005773/en/