Internationally renowned DJ Gareth Emery is challenging traditional record companies by launching a new platform that promises fair and immediate payment to artists through cryptocurrency.
Gareth Emery, a well-known figure in the trance and house music scenes, is leveraging his crypto enthusiasm to disrupt the legacy music industry with his platform, Choon. This innovative platform allows independent artists to upload their music, share it, and receive 80 per cent of the proceeds directly from streaming, bypassing intermediaries.
Emery criticises the existing music industry for its delayed payment processes, noting, “The existing music industry has set the bar so low in terms of paying people. If I stream on Spotify today I probably won’t get paid for a year or even two because it’s all done on six-monthly accounting periods. It’s madness.” He argues that even in the face of cryptocurrency’s volatility, Choon’s model still offers better compensation for artists.
He highlights the inefficiency of traditional models where 95 per cent of artists’ royalties end up with middlemen, including streaming services, publishers, record labels, and copyright societies. Choon, he asserts, offers a direct payment system from listener to artist, eliminating unnecessary intermediaries.
Choon also introduces Smart Record Contracts, which simplify music contracts, licensing, and payments by storing all information securely on the blockchain. This ensures that multiple contributors to a song are paid accurately and quickly. Emery’s vision is a music industry where artists receive daily payments and have transparent accounting for their streamed music.
Built on the Ethereum blockchain, which Emery describes as Bitcoin’s ‘younger, more technologically advanced sibling,’ Choon is poised to be the future of the music industry. Emery is confident that within the next decade, this technological approach will become the standard, overcoming the resistance from traditional institutions.
Successfully disrupting an entrenched industry requires time and perseverance. Emery recalls the industry’s initial resistance to technologies like Napster but remains optimistic that embracing new tech will ultimately benefit the music industry. He states, “Success for me is not about making Choon the biggest company in the world, it’s about solving the problem. It’s going to take a while because the institutions are very old fashioned and self-preservation kicks in when new tech disrupts existing ones.”
Choon’s team includes prominent figures from both the blockchain and music industries, such as Grammy Award-winning RAC and Dubstep DJ, Datsik, underlining the platform’s potential and credibility.
By combining blockchain technology with an artist-centric payment model, Gareth Emery’s Choon is set to revolutionise the music industry, offering a fairer and more transparent system for independent artists.