India has over 65% of its population under 35, the national average age being 29. Moreover, of India’s 1.3 billion people, only half currently use mobile phones, and less than half of that number are smartphones.
Although India is one of the most populous countries in the world, internet usage remains 41%, with 700 million Indians currently connected to the Internet. This leaves incredible room for growth in India, which lags behind other emerging economies in both internet access and smartphone ownership. This vast, underserved population has long been the target of global entrepreneurs and mega-tech companies.
A $5 billion opportunity
According to a investigation, about 84% of Indian users access the internet for entertainment purposes. In 2019, there was an increase in over-the-top, or OTT, streaming of both audio and video, primarily driven by original content and sports. For example, the Cricket World Cup broadcast on OTT platforms.
And there’s also the Bollywood effect — a wave of movie stars migrating from the big screen to streaming services. This is an effort to tap into loyal fanbases and hacking adoption. It can also be a good deal. According to a reportIndia’s OTT streaming market is expected to be valued at $5 billion by 2023.
This market is currently led by Hotstar (a subsidiary of Disney), which has over 300 million users. Other big players such as YouTube, Amazon Prime and Netflix, as well as national services, such as Eros Now, Voot, Zee5, Arre and ALT Balaji are growing their content libraries to gain market share in India.
On the music streaming side, there are plenty of options. However, despite this variety, there are still criticisms of how streaming services enable the very model that many of them originally sought to disrupt. Whether by design or by accident, these platforms have become the new guardians of digital content and distribution.
Streaming reinvented
Technological revolutions always take place on the backs of idealists who often lack political weight but are driven by a burning desire for change. Many versions of this revolution are currently underway. They reshape industries, sweep away the foundations of legacy businesses, and empower people to build new and better systems. Yet when it comes to digital media, an entrenched status quo remains.
Most streaming providers currently offer either paid subscriptions or extractive ad-based systems that aggressively monetize their users’ attention. But what if there was a better way to meet the needs of digital content consumers while addressing the limitations of current media models? There are, and it’s thanks, in part, to technology, which has become more commercially viable in recent years.
Build a new foundation
In recent years, blockchain technology has become a transformative force in multiple aspects of public and private sector operations. Its promise of decentralized ownership, immutability, and security of cryptographic data has turned more than one head.
In India, blockchain use cases are being explored and the technology is seeing demand in the banking, insurance, logistics and healthcare sectors. If it is above all the financial players who are the first to capitalize on this technology, others are following. We are past the point where, in practical terms, blockchain was little more than a buzzword. Now the hype has died down and there are other real-world implementations.
Digital content on the blockchain
A few blockchain-connected projects have sprung up to offer an alternative to the growing hegemony of streaming platforms. In terms of digital content, technology is interesting in many ways. First, it potentially reduces the power held by corporate gatekeepers. Indeed, at its core, it allows the storage and processing of data in a distributed manner without interference from a central body.
By distributing power more evenly, blockchain technology offers the opportunity to redefine the relationship between content producers, brands and viewers. And that is its most exciting promise because in doing so it changes business models and can build systems with direct participation and benefits for all stakeholders.
New solutions
A blockchain-powered video-on-demand platform aims to simplify interactions. For content creators, one of the main advantages is the elimination of intermediary services. At the same time, customers can take advantage of the pay-per-view model, a significant departure from standard subscription models. But we can also go further.
A blockchain-based VoD platform can be designed to enable users to derive value from contributing their attention, engagement, and data to the network. This is a key improvement in financial inclusion. Instead of being treated like a commodity, being charged for access, or bombarded with ads, users will be able to earn by watching content and engaging with the community. These rewards could come in the form of blockchain-based rewards – a benefit for users, as well as an engine to drive loyalty and growth on the platform itself.
Such models address issues such as the dilution of revenue for content creators, copyright issues and – critically in a country like India – economic access to media. Additionally, in some cases, creators face lost monetization opportunities due to distribution inefficiencies, non-transparent revenue, and unwarranted rights allocations – other issues than the introduction of blockchain is about to solve.
On the user side, a system with new blockchain-based incentives eliminates the need to worry about data privacy as one might with a freemium model. Such a network is trustless and secure by design, using encryption schemes that have been proven for many years. Finally, while centralized services can be censored, controlled, or even taken offline, decentralized networks remain resistant to censorship.
Better incentives
Piracy and illegal file sharing is a major problem for creators and distributors of digital content, and it is primarily fueled by cost barriers. The result is that producers aren’t properly compensated, and advertisers looking for a target audience are overlooked or ignored. In particular, this is a problem for brands that seek a more direct, insight-driven relationship with consumers.
These issues can be addressed by leveraging the unique characteristics of blockchain to increase transparency and disintermediate the relationship between consumers and brands. For example, proof protocols help to accurately monitor usage and monitor rates, provide real-time engagement data, and reward users for their attention. This undermines users’ incentive to piracy and compensates content owners. It also creates a more direct and information-rich relationship between advertisers and consumers.
Final Thoughts
While the number of internet users and smartphone owners is on the rise, India exhibits a unique confluence of factors: a young, tech-savvy population and relatively low digital technology penetration rates. Not only that, but thanks to the COVID-19 lockdown, India’s monthly active internet user base is expected to grow faster than expected through 2021. Over the next five years, the number of users is projected be close to 1 billion.
The current supply of digital content in India is plagued with problems – centralized power, poor user experience, fragmented markets, piracy and structural restrictions – which limit consumer choice. Blockchain technology provides the backbone needed to revolutionize digital media by enabling innovations in customer experience, data-driven engagement, and ecosystem economics to benefit the community.
The vision and the technology are there; all that remains is to fight incumbents and educate consumers that there is a better digital world.
This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.
The views, thoughts and opinions expressed herein are those of the author alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Mario Casiragui is the CFO and Chief Strategy Officer of Xfinite Global, a blockchain-powered global entertainment platform. Mario has been involved in the blockchain industry since 2016, first as the founder of DandYlion and as a partner at Blockchain Solution Partners. He previously worked in traditional financial markets, both at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and RBS.
