Most Music Listeners Would Pay for Music with Crypto to Help Artists

A survey conducted by pioneering digital music store eMusic revealed that most of their service’s users were open to paying with crypto if it allowed artists to earn more.

The survey — shared exclusively with Cointelegraph — revealed that 65% of eMusic customers would use cryptocurrency if it was for the aforementioned reasons. It is worth noting that a mere 8% of the respondents had used Bitcoin (BTC) or any other crypto in the past.

Per the announcement, 800 eMusic users answered questions about cryptocurrencies and their use in the music industry.

Survey data revealed that 40% of music listeners overestimate the amount of royalties that artists receive when their music is purchased or streamed. 87% believed that a “fair share” for the artists would be a higher sum, with the most popular response being a 50% split.

The report released in May by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry showed that music streaming boosted music revenues to over $20 billion in 2019. Still, an analysis by the music news website, Soundcharts, estimates that artists are paid only $0.00318 per stream on Spotify.

Using crypto to make royalties fairer

As Cointelegraph reported at the end of May, eMusic is building a decentralized music distribution system to reduce the cost of inefficiencies and pay artists more when fans purchase and stream their music.

EMusic, which launched in 1998, is known for being one of the first websites to sell DRM-free MP3 music recordings. Company data website Owler reveals that the firm employs 278 people and has an annual revenue of $65.7 million.

The idea of making music fairer using cryptocurrencies is not new. Independent tech marketing and PR consultant Eric Doyle told Cointelegraph last year that there are in fact many projects trying to apply blockchain technology to the music industry.

The author of this story contributed some of the questions used in eMusic’s survey.