Blockchain Peace Summit with Portia Sabin and Ken Umezaki

What really happens when a blockchain skeptic and a blockchain supporter talk to each other about solving music industry problems? At the October 2019 Music Tectonics Conference, we hosted a Blockchain Cage Match with three skeptics and three enthusiasts facing off in wrestling masks and capes. Podcast host and conference organizer Dmitri Vietze saw too many events where entrepreneurs and engineers were touting the benefits of blockchain on stage, while music industry veterans snickered at the back of the room. He wanted to bring the factions together instead of having separate conversations. Though the cage match was fun, it didn’t quite turn out the way we’d hoped. 

So Dmitri invited two of the panelists to a Blockchain Peace Summit, and you get to listen in. On the skeptic side is Portia Sabin, President of the Music Business Association and host of the Future of What podcast. And coming in on the supporter side is Ken Umezaki, CEO of Verifi Media, a rights data management company that uses blockchain, and President of Digital Daruma, a music tech investment company. Portia and Ken examine the roots of the music industry’s . . . less than thrilled reaction to blockchain evangelism. What have we learned about blockchain since the heady hype of “Crypto Summer” a few years ago? What other tech solutions have both Portia and Ken excited about the future of the music industry, and what’s the missing piece that would change the data landscape in the music biz for good?

The Music Tectonics podcast goes beneath the surface of the music industry to explore how technology is changing the way business gets done. Visit MusicTectonics.com to learn more, and find us on twitter, facebook, and Instagram. Let us know what you think!