Do artists perceive blockchain as a new revenue opportunity? A social representation study of the Korean music industry

Although blockchain has often been perceived as a game-changer that can revolutionize the music industry, it also retains possible challenges regarding the practicality of such innovative adoption. This study seeks to construe the realistic thoughts raised by artists regarding the new revenue opportunities arising from the adoption of blockchain in the Korean music industry. This involves the disintermediation of the obsolete music royalty distribution system and a new revenue channel from the Non-fungible Token market. Based on social representation theory and interviews with Korean artists, this study found ambivalent perceptions towards the adoption of blockchain in the music industry - hoping for new possibilities while also perceiving the impracticality of such innovation. Indeed, it may be too good to be true for artists who have observed the local domain with little change regardless of their continuous cries for help. After thorough discussion, the study provides key implications to induce sound settlement of an innovative technology.

Yujun Park, Seongcheol Kim