The Financialisation of Culture
The Liquidity Gap in the Creative Economy
For decades, the music industry has successfully modernised how content is distributed and consumed, yet the underlying management of Intellectual Property (IP) remains trapped in a paper-based, "Web2" legacy. While global revenues are projected to nearly double to $153 billion by 2030, music IP remains a largely illiquid and inaccessible asset class for the majority of financial players.
Our strategic research at the Web3 Music Association identifies a critical "IP Rigidity" that hinders the development of open markets. By applying Real-World-Asset (RWA) tokenisation, we can transition music from a siloed industry into a transparent, 24/7 global market.
Redefining Music as a Financial Yield
The shift from physical sales to streaming has fundamentally reshaped industry cash flows. Unlike the "hit-driven" spikes of the CD era, streaming creates prolonged, predictable revenue streams akin to financial dividends.
Tokenization allows us to treat these streams with the same technological rigor as any other institutional asset. Key benefits include:
For Labels: Speeding up the business cycle by selling portions of catalogs to generate immediate liquidity for scouting and reinvestment.
For Investors: Access to new, stable assets that are historically uncorrelated with broader economic cycles.
For Artists: Establishing creative sovereignty through "fractional ownership," allowing fans to participate directly in an artist’s economic success.
The Specialized Blockchain Imperative
A primary finding of our work is that generic, "one-size-fits-all" blockchains often fall short of meeting the music industry's nuanced legal and regulatory requirements. To truly unlock the $1 trillion potential of music IP, the industry requires a bespoke market infrastructure.
The W3M Technology blockchain is engineered specifically for these use cases, embedding identity verification, transactional confidentiality, and automated "smart" royalty payouts from the ground up.
Conclusion: Orchestrating the Future
The ambition of this framework is to move the music industry from a passive entity to an active value driver. By eliminating the structural barriers of the past, we are not merely adapting to a changing landscape—we are architecting a new era where culture is a liquid, democratized, and globally accessible asset class.
Link to Paper
