Collaborative Electroacoustic Music Composition on the Blockchain

In the last decade, blockchain has been established as a transformative technology that is beginning to impact the key sectors of finance, health, energy, administration, and agriculture, among many others. In relation to arts, much of the current research focuses on the problems of the protection, dissemination, and monetization of art and music, which is created by conventional means. In this paper, we take a more experimental approach and propose a blockchain system for collaborative electroacoustic music composition that achieves consensus by measuring a contribution value. The main advantage of such an approach is having secure documentation that promotes trust and guarantees the integrity of the whole process while supporting a collaborative ecosystem for the creation of new music. We introduce a Proof of Creative Contribution (PoCC) consensus protocol, which measures a contribution value and assigns the composer with the highest value to record the composition data on the blockchain. In addition, we document a simulated compositional process that demonstrates the diversification of the block creator whose contributions have been well received by the network. The system supports a compositional process that is based on modular units, enabling multiple electroacoustic music pieces to be composed simultaneously, asynchronously, and non-linearly.