Photo: Bitfury Surround
Games, shopping, healthcare, and other spheres of our life have already adopted blockchain, but the music industry is something new. Some companies attempted to make waves there, but the most significant initiative has been introduced by a major player in the blockchain world.
BitFury, the largest private Bitcoin Blockchain infrastructure provider and transaction processing company, has announced it will enter the notoriously opaque music industry to decentralize it. The company is planning to launch Bitfury Surround, a music entertainment division that will create an open-source music platform secured by the bitcoin blockchain.
Breaking news today in @Reuters by @gcdreyfuss: We have officially launched Bitfury Surround, our music entertainment division that will design #blockchain solutions to streamline operations throughout the music industry! Read more: https://t.co/bVpkcHSTw4 pic.twitter.com/emd55bia38
— The Bitfury Group (@BitfuryGroup) January 16, 2019
The open-source platform, named SurroundTM, is secured by blockchain. Addressing the challenges in the music industry, the platform will help artists and other rightsholders. The platform’s aim is to streamline the secure transfer of copyright assets including better monitoring and management systems. With such a view, SurroundTM will allow sharing and monetizing intellectual property and provide transparent management functions and trusted data.
Stefan Schulz, CEO of SurroundTM and a 20-year music and entertainment industry veteran, said:
“There is a very strong momentum for an open entertainment-related blockchain where market participants themselves would be participating in the market venue, not only from a transactional value point of view.”
Schulz further said:
“The Surround ecosystem will foster transparency and trust, save administrative costs and improve a secure and transparent flow of content from artists to consumers on the blockchain, making efficiency gains available to all market participants fairly.”
According to Bitfury, SurroundTM will lead the way in promoting innovation within the music industry. The Bitfury Surround business division will be based in Europe, with operations in Amsterdam and Berlin. Other offices are set for Los Angeles, Tokyo, Seoul, and Moscow.
As Bitfury’s CEO stated, the platform won’t launch “for some time.”
Schulz said:
“The actual platform is being put together and developed as we speak. Several parts have already been in place.”
The Bitfury Group to Become the Largest Mining Company
BitFury is one of the largest crypto mining companies. Founded in 2011, the company is now based in London. It sells gear used to mine cryptocurrencies and develops blockchain technology for clients including the Ukrainian government.
Late last year, the Bitfury Group raised $80 million in a round of private financing. Among the investors were such companies as Macquarie Capital, Asian financier Dentsu, European companies Armat Group and Jabre & Lian Group, and the merchant bank founded by billionaire and ex-Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner Mike Novogratz.
Such success of funding pushed Bitfury’s valuation to USD 1 billion. Moreover, the round allowed BitFury to be among the top five manufacturers in the crypto mining hardware market, along with AMD, Bitmain, Canaan, and Baikal Miner.
