The entertainment industry is rife with headlines about vague royalty plans, treacherous intermediaries, bad contracts, and inequitable compensation. There’s a deepened suspicion about these long-unresolved issues that blockchain and Web3 technologies promise to address via their equitable, transparent and decentralized nature.
Gigster’s Director of Blockchain, Cory Hymel, explores the potential impact of Web3 on the media and entertainment industries in our latest live stream.
The following are some take-home points from his address.
Societal changes and the acceleration of e-commerce became the silver lining of the dark cloud of COVID-19. Some blockchain-based, decentralized alternatives to web services that gained a foothold at that time have persisted.
As the world continued to adapt to the new order of things where cryptocurrency played a leading role, the media and entertainment sector welcomed Web3, an interconnected arena of decentralized apps (DApps) and protocols. Web3, whose aim is to decentralize the internet, shifted the power of control from the hands of intermediaries to creators and users.
Blockchain technology and its emerging use cases like NFTs and cryptocurrencies offered consumers unprecedented ways to enjoy entertainment. As the distinctive features and potential impact of Web3 in entertainment continues to unravel, big companies are dabbling in the wave and rolling out a variety of use cases which participants can exploit using this revolutionary technology. Some of them include the following:
While the internet may have drastically changed how we enjoy entertainment, Web3 has disrupted the industry by giving users direct control over their data. Introducing DApps that are more resistant to surveillance and censorship is only the beginning, as smart contracts, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented realities will find their way into the media and entertainment.
Creatives will henceforth find new ways to create their content using computer-generated backgrounds besides being able to claim ownership of their work and get paid directly by consumers. As Web3 changes the way we understand the potential of the internet, emerging concepts like the metaverse will make extended reality (XR), a combination of augmented and mixed reality, accessible to everyone.
For an industry that has always been quick to adopt the latest technological changes to keep viewers hooked, NFTs are already bringing groundbreaking changes to the entertainment industry. NFTs have shown their potential to transform how movies are produced and distributed. Filmmakers and movie producers can now share ownership of their creations with viewers and have them involved throughout the filmmaking process.
NFTs will also introduce a new dimension to marketing that makes fans a part of the film instead of simply collecting memorabilia. By integrating NFTs into entertainment, creators and viewers will have a connection that transcends the theatre and introduce new unparalleled monetization opportunities for viewers, creators, producers, and artists.
Web3 has shown the potential to open a new dimension for content creation that makes the creator the king. The immersive and interactive content available on the internet is already undergoing serious changes that will make it creative, focused, multi-dimensional, and fully accessible. By applying NFT technology, everything from music to videos and images will undertake exclusive ownership and high security, leading to deeper and more meaningful interactions.
With Web3 it’s now possible for just about anyone to host a virtual concert, with big and small entertainers, musicians, and pop stars joining the fray. Participants attending these concerts can use human-like digital avatars to move around the stage, socialize with other fans, clap, dance, and cheer within the virtual universe. The audience looks closer at the stage, and there’s no front-seat participant rule. All the show tickets and merchandise are available in the form of NFTs.
As players in the industry continue embracing the evolution within the Web3 sphere, entertainment will transform into a more secure, user-oriented experience. The transformative changes caused by the fusion of Web3 and entertainment lead to a more transparent, secure, and audience-based experience. Watch our live stream to discover the unique opportunities Web3 entertainment is about to unleash.
