“Right now, the economics of streaming are very broken”: sonu.stream co-founder Laura Jaramillo wants to re-shape streaming
Jamillo worked with producer TOKiMONSTA on the blockchain-based streaming platform.
Credit: MR.Cole_Photographer/Getty Images
Producer TOKiMONSTA has been involved with an up-and-coming streaming service sonu.stream, which she collaborated with Laura Jaramillo on to help “increase the pie” for artists.
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Jaramillo speaks to MusicTech in a new feature about the new streaming services hoping to offer artists a fairer deal than many of the streaming market’s big hitters. Within the feature, she elaborates on the technology sonu.stream employs and how it is geared to be more equitable than its competitors.
“Right now, the economics of streaming are very broken,” she tells MusicTech. “It’s a tragedy that all these other ways that artists show up for the music industry don’t get reflected in what pays for the passive consumption of music.”
sonu.stream uses Web3 technology – using a blockchain, it traces who creates and owns a song, ensuring that this data cannot be changed or altered. Though it uses NFTs, which are often referred to as digital ‘collectibles’ but Jaramillo argues that they can offer a way to protect artists.
“It allows you to create a strong foundation that decentralises the permission for AI-generated music,” she adds. “This kind of progress is only possible through the blockchain and this kind of tech.”
Jaramillo also takes issue with the way that the giants distribute music in such a non-selective way ‘en masse’, despite that being the main appeal of the likes of Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music.
“For an artist to be heard or discovered on some of the major streamers it’s all about being playlisted by the editorial, and that process is so opaque,” explains Jaramillo, “It’s what makes and breaks an artist — as well as maybe a TikTok moment.”
She adds: “People are disappointed in these giants and they see sonu.stream as an opportunity for change,” says Jaramillo. “Artists and labels are extremely excited by the opportunity. It’s a chance to make more revenue and single out those people that show up for them.”
For more information, head to sonu.stream.
