The Problem
Music creators struggled with broken rights management, lost revenue, and collaboration challenges—problems that cost the industry billions annually.
The Metadata Crisis - The music industry's metadata and rights management systems were fundamentally broken. Songs lost ownership information, creators couldn't track who contributed what, and revenue distribution became impossible when metadata failed. This cost creators millions in lost royalties.
The Stem-Level Tracking Gap - Music is created at the stem level—individual audio tracks that combine into final songs. Existing systems couldn't track ownership and rights at the stem level, making it impossible to properly credit contributors or distribute revenue fairly when songs were used.
The Collaboration Challenge - Songwriters and composers needed better tools to find collaborators, share work, and manage projects. Existing platforms didn't support the collaborative nature of music creation, making it difficult to connect with the right people and manage multi-contributor projects.
The Revenue Distribution Problem - When songs generated revenue, distributing payments fairly was complex and error-prone. Multiple contributors, varying ownership percentages, and complex royalty structures made manual distribution unreliable and costly.
The PRO Integration Barrier - Delivering compositions to performing rights organizations (PROs) and music publishers required manual processes and often lost metadata. Without proper integration, songs couldn't be properly registered, tracked, or monetized.
The Solution
SongHub transforms music rights management from broken systems into transparent, automated blockchain-based infrastructure. Creators tokenize stems, track ownership, and distribute revenue automatically through smart contracts.
Stem-Level Tokenization - Tokenize individual audio stems as NFTs, creating immutable records of ownership and contribution. Each stem contributor gets proper credit and ownership tracked on the blockchain—no lost metadata, no disputes.
Automated Revenue Distribution - Smart contracts automatically distribute revenue based on ownership percentages. When songs generate income, payments flow to contributors automatically—transparent, trustless, and accurate.
Collaboration Platform - Search, connect, and collaborate with other creators within your publisher or PRO network. Share projects, manage contributions, and track collaboration history—all in one platform.
Direct PRO Integration - Deliver compositions directly to performing rights organizations and music publishers with embedded smart contract data. Metadata travels with the song, ensuring proper registration and tracking.
Immutable Rights Tracking - Blockchain provides permanent, unchangeable records of ownership and rights. Once recorded, ownership can't be disputed or lost—creating trust and transparency in an industry plagued by metadata failures.
Why It Works
The platform delivers measurable results because it was built to solve real music industry problems:
- Immutable Rights Tracking - Blockchain provides permanent records of ownership at the stem level, eliminating metadata failures and disputes
- Automated Revenue Distribution - Smart contracts distribute payments automatically based on ownership, ensuring fair and accurate royalty distribution
- Stem-Level Tokenization - Individual audio stems tokenized as NFTs enable proper credit and ownership tracking for all contributors
- Transparent Ownership - Blockchain transparency creates trust in an industry where ownership disputes are common
- Future Monetization - Infrastructure enables future tracking and monetization of song assets with embedded smart contract data
- Seamless Integrations - Connects with Ethereum blockchain, IPFS decentralized storage (Pinata), MetaMask wallets, Auth0 authentication, and Amity Social Cloud for collaboration through unified APIs—works with your existing infrastructure
Development Journey
Phase 1: Smart Contract Foundation - Developed Ethereum smart contracts using Solidity, implementing ERC-721 and ERC-1155 NFT standards. Built factory pattern for efficient contract deployment and integrated OpenZeppelin PaymentSplitter for automated revenue distribution.
Phase 2: Decentralized Storage & Tokenization - Integrated IPFS via Pinata for decentralized metadata storage. Built stem-level tokenization system enabling individual audio stems to be tokenized and tracked separately with immutable ownership records.
Phase 3: Collaboration & PRO Integration - Built collaboration platform with messaging and project sharing. Created architecture for direct PRO integration, enabling compositions to be delivered with embedded smart contract data.
Platform Architecture
The platform combines blockchain technology, decentralized storage, and collaboration tools:
Technology Stack: Next.js 13 application, Ethereum smart contracts (Solidity), IPFS decentralized storage (Pinata), MongoDB database, and Web3 wallet integration.
Key Capabilities: Stem-level NFT tokenization with ERC-721 and ERC-1155 standards, automated revenue distribution through smart contracts, immutable rights tracking on blockchain, and direct PRO integration with embedded metadata.
Business Impact
The platform transforms music rights management through blockchain technology:
- Operational Efficiency - Automated revenue distribution eliminates manual payment processing, immutable rights tracking prevents disputes, direct PRO integration streamlines registration
- Industry Innovation - Blockchain-based approach addresses fundamental metadata failures, stem-level tracking enables proper contributor credit, transparent ownership creates industry trust
- Market Position - Innovative blockchain solution for music rights management, infrastructure for future monetization, demonstrating practical blockchain application in music industry
Conclusion
This platform demonstrates Sofmen's expertise in building blockchain solutions that solve real industry problems. By enabling stem-level tokenization, automated revenue distribution, and immutable rights tracking, the platform addresses fundamental failures in music industry metadata and rights management.
We built the entire platform from the ground up—Ethereum smart contracts, IPFS decentralized storage, Web3 wallet integration, and collaboration features. Our blockchain-first approach and smart contract expertise enabled the platform to deliver transparent, automated rights management, transforming how music creators track ownership and distribute revenue.