The Future of Music: Transparency Built with Blockchain

CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - Nov 18, 2016) - File sharing and streaming services completely up-ended the way music is accessed and paid for. It's never been easier to consume media, but it's come at the cost of the artists and transparency. Distributed ledger technology, commonly known as blockchain, offers the promise of a secure way to manage creative rights and ensure equitable royalty distribution across the industry.

On December 6, the MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge (MITEF) Innovation Series will host a discussion on Transparency in Music - Powered by Blockchain with a panel of innovators building the infrastructure for the next-generation music industry at the MIT Stata Center. The event will include two founders of Berklee Institute for Creative Entrepreneurship's Open Music Initiative (OMI), a non-profit group of 140 industry members building an open-protocol to enable interoperability across the music industry.

"Driven by their love of music and a desire to see artists protected and properly compensated for their creative product, these big thinkers are working to solve a complicated problem while propelling the development of a new technology forward," said Katja Wald, Executive Director of MITEF Cambridge. "They're doing something that's never been done, and it's inspiring to see technology and art come together for the greater good of the creators, the industry and consumers."

The discussion will be moderated by George Howard, co-founder of Music Audience Exchange, and Associate Professor of Management at Berklee College of Music. Panelists include:

• Dan Harple, Founder and CEO, Context Labs; OMI Co-Founder
• Panos Panay, Founding Managing Director, BerkleeICE; OMI Co-Founder
• Benji Rogers, Co-Founder, dotBLOCKCHAINmusic

The event will close with a live performance of the innovative sounds of future pop duo mar|co.

Event Details
December 6, 2016, 5:30pm - 9:00pm
MIT Stata Center, 32 Vassar Street, Cambridge, Mass.

5:30 - 6:00 pm - Registration, Networking & Light Snacks, MIT Stata Center Room 123
6:00 - 7:00 pm - Intros and Q&A with the panel
7:00 - 7:30 pm - Blockchain and music rights demo
7:30 - 8:00pm - Live music by future pop duo mar|co
8:00 - 9:00 - More Networking in the R&D Pub, 4th Floor of the MIT Stata Center

To register for the event and for more information: http://bit.ly/2fDi7J2

Follow MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge @mitefcmb;

Sponsors supporting this event include AdamsIP; CHEN PR; Hamilton Brook Smith Reynolds; Morse, Barnes-Brown & Pendleton; Withum.com and Wolf Greenfield.

About The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge
The MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge is the founding chapter and one of 27 worldwide chapters comprising the MIT Enterprise Forum, Inc. Offering more than 40 programs and events annually that inspire innovation, MIT Enterprise Forum of Cambridge initiatives facilitate critical one-on-one mentoring while providing team services that increase the skills and expertise necessary for entrepreneurs to succeed.