December 22, 2024 • 18 mins
What does it mean for content creators to “go onchain?” We’ll learn how this movement to take financial power back from closed-off social media platforms could give creators a kind of freedom that they’ve struggled to hold onto for centuries.
This episode is sponsored by Coinbase.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Because you're a subscriber to this Bloomberg podcast, we thought
you'd be interested in a sponsored podcast called Evolving Money,
produced by Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios. It explores how
money has changed over the centuries and whether cryptocurrency is
just the next logical evolution of how we pay for
things and store long term value. Here is a recent episode.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Every day, billions of people share their creativity online, but
when their creative work goes viral, who benefits? Imagine a
young woman, a dancer with a modest social media following.
One morning, she comes up with a new dance at
the kitchen table and posts a video. Her followers don't
just like it and scroll on. They start imitating her
(00:47):
moves and posting their own versions of the dance, and
big media channels get a ready made story by covering
the viral craze. There's even a cheeky SNL skill. The
platform she originally posted on is benefiting from the traffic
and ad revenue, and they decide exactly how much of
the pie she gets. But does it have to be
(01:08):
that way? What if new technologies could give creators complete
ownership over their content earn exponentially more money from their
fans and create new revenue models, rebuilding their creator economy
as we know it. Welcome to a new season of
Evolving Money from Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios. I'm your host,
(01:30):
Maggie Lake. On this podcast, we'll continue to take a
different look at cryptocurrency. It's been cast as a radical
departure for the monetary system, but what if it wasn't
radical at all. This season, as we've seen more and
more businesses, institutions, and consumers adopt cryptocurrency, will dive deeper
into the newest applications of blockchain technology as we explore
(01:53):
how money has changed over the centuries and look for
lessons that might predict its next evolution. In this episode,
we're looking at how blockchains might revolutionize how people post,
interact with, and profit from original content online. Most content
creators know that the handful of social media platforms who
distribute their work have enormous power over how much they earn.
(02:16):
This isn't a new problem. Artists and thinkers have always
had to deal with gatekeepers fighting for the right to
own their work and its proceeds. But can blockchain technology
really disrupt the walled garden landscape that shapes the flow
of art, ideas and money in the twenty first century.
To find out, I'll talk to Jesse Pollock, creator of Base,
(02:40):
and Julian Holgan, CEO of the Web three entertainment company Doodles,
two leaders who are charting a new path forward by
bringing creativity and content on chain. Let's go way back
to sixteen ninety four. Perched at his desk writing a
protest letter by cat Handlelight is philosopher John Locke. You
(03:03):
remember him from history class. Locke's been wanting to publish
his writing on religion, but he's been blocked from doing it.
You see, after the invention of the printing press, a
single group controls all publishing in England, the Worshipful Company
of Stationers.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
What a name, right. The Stationers are everybody who's involved
in the making and distribution and sale of books, so printers, binders,
type founders, the people who sell the books of the public.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That's doctor Adrian Johns. He chairs the history department at
the University of Chicago, specializing in the histories of science,
the book, media, and information. This group of publishers, the Stationers,
have a royal warrant to print and this warrant protects
the stationers from competition.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
It was essentially a monopoly, a kind of cartel that
looked after the whole trade.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Locke is one of the loudest voices in a chorus
of thinkers, writers and printers calling for an end to
the stationer's monopoly, and eventually, in sixteen ninety five, the
Crown lets its royal warrant with the stationers expire.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
When that act lapses, there's no legal sanctuary more against
pirating books. It's a kind of golden age for literary piracy.
So whatever you write is free game for anybody.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
This period of anarchy lasts for about fifteen years until
seventeen ten, when Parliament passes a new act, the Statute
of Anne. Now, if any other person who isn't explicitly
approved by the author to print or reprint their work
tries to reproduce it, the author can basically say hey, stop,
that's mine and ask a court for an injunction. This was,
(04:46):
in essence the birth of copyright law. Sounds like a
big improvement, right, but the publishers respond by forming cartels
called congers to reclaim their power.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
In practice, if you have to tow biggest publishers in
London all collaborating on this. They have enormous power, so
de facto, these congers kind of act to preserve the
same kinds of rights that the station as company had
always registered before.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So the vast majority of writers still don't have real
control over how their works are made public or what
they'll earn from their ideas. The same dynamic continues in
some form to this day.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So we've seen notoriously, through various mergers and so forth,
the development of sort of super media firms that hold
the publishing houses together. This idea that the commanding heights
of the literary culture are held by a relatively small
number of very powerful commercial operations. You know, it feels
a little bit uncomfortably like we're back to that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
As the world has moved online, so have the same
issues around consolidated power and ownership rights that have plagued
creators for quite literally centuries.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think if you look at the last twenty years,
with the creation of the Internet, we've seen the emergence
of these incredible platforms that have connected people all around
the world.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
That's Jesse Pollock, VP of Engineering at coinbase and creator of.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Base, but I think at the same time, one of
the big challenges has been that as people have brought
their creativity online, they've predominantly brought it into these platforms
that they don't control.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Our own Base is a platform that people can use
to build all kinds of apps with blockchain technology. Jesse
told me he created the platform because he wanted to
help content creators and small businesses take true ownership of
their work by building more direct relationships with fans and
customers and deciding how to earn money through those connections.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So let's say you're creator and you make a video.
You take your video, you put it on a platform,
and then it gets distributed kind of based on an
algorithm that you can't see or understand. You get paid
whatever that platform decides to pay you, which is a
total black box.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But if you're a web creator, it's not like there's
much choice, and.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
If you say, hey, I want to take my distribution
somewhere else, you don't actually have that option. You are
stuck in the existing system.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And so the creator is left making whatever money the
platform offers them. Jesse estimates it's about five percent, and
the platform keeps the rest. Then the creator has to
pay transaction fees and phase delays in getting paid.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And that's a thing that I think just in the
last few years, people are waking up to as they see, Oh,
I feel like I'm getting scraps when these corporations are
making hundreds of billions of dollars. And I think that
collective awakening is kind of bringing us to a new
moment where we're realizing, Hey, maybe we need better tools,
maybe we need better platforms, and maybe we need a
(07:49):
better internet that actually puts creators first.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
That phrase a better internet, Jesse means that literally. He
thinks that blockchain platforms can the essential tools for communication, purchases,
and analytics outside the walled gardens of today's social media.
This wouldn't just shift the places where content goes viral,
it would also shift where people make money and how
(08:14):
new revenue models can take off. I asked Jesse to
walk me through this transition, starting with the difference between
going online to going on chain. So what do you
mean when you say on chain?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
On chain is the next generation of the Internet that's
built on blockchains like base and it's a powerful internet
where everyone everywhere has the same access and it is
on a level playing field where they're able to build
and use new apps that are ten x better.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So how will that look? What change will that mean
for creators When it comes to things like owning my
art and getting paid for it and reaching my audience.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You do the exact same thing. You take your music,
you take your video, and you put it on chain,
but now all of the algorithms are open, so you
can actually understand what's going to lead to more distribution
versus less distribution. And if you want to take your
network to another app because you're excited about trying something new,
you can just take it with you because it's yours.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So the creator retains control over the distribution and monetization
of their work. And as more creators see that benefit
and take their work on chain, the enormous slice of
revenue that they're used to handing over to social media
platforms could fuel a new network of businesses.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
That network that you're distributing to is not controlled by
one company. It's open and accessible to everyone who wants
to build on it. And so what that means is
we're actually going to have a Cambrian explosion of people
who are building on that graph and that network and
it's a new Internet that's going to put creators, musicians, videographers,
(09:55):
small businesses first, and going to make it so businesses
have to serve and have to help them be successful
on a new open platform where everyone can win.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
The musician example caught my ear because I'm always keeping
tabs on my favorite artist and trying to see if
I can catch them at a live show. Jesse showed
me how my relationship to my favorite artists could be
much more personalized if each step were brought on chain.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I think the thing that's really powerful about the new
on chain platform is that these creators, these musicians, they
can actually build a deeper relationship with the people who
care most about them. Because those folks are going to
be able to have a relationship where they say, hey,
I want to support you, and I'm going to mince
your song, and then that's going to be this kind
of like historical record of how I participated with you
(10:44):
in a new platform, and that record is going to
span across everything that you do.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Say I buy an album, then buy some merch then
watch their live stream. If this all happens on chain,
the artists will be able to directly track all all
of those interactions between us across any app and use
that to personalize or deepen our relationship.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
The artists are then going to be able to look
across all that and say, oh, here are the people
who've listened to me on this app and that app
and showed up at my show, And now I'm going
to say, okay, let's give them a targeted experience. For instance,
let's make it so that they can be first in
line for purchasing.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Tickets, or the artists could send me personalized messages, exclusive
set lists, or invite me to a post show meet
up with other super fans.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
With this new on chain infrastructure, we're actually going to
be able to build more customized, more human, more direct
experiences that let artists and creators reach their most important,
most connected fans, give them better experiences, which will make
that relationship deeper and really be a win win for
both the creative side and the consumption side.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
This new on chain world isn't just theoretical. It's here now.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
We believe that we're building a next generation entertainment company.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
That's Julian Holgan as the president of Billboard, he transformed
that brand from a music trade magazine to an international
multiplatform experience.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Now.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Julian is the CEO of Doodles, a digital entertainment platform
that's built entirely on Chain.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
We're basically what a modern day cartoon franchise might look like.
We make short films, We make original music. Those often
come with music videos, animated music videos. We do digital comics,
illustrated posters. We really use humor in all of our content.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
But Doodles is also a social community in the Doodles universe.
When users sign up, they create a digital avatar, a Doodle,
which they can customize however they want. Because the avatar
is on chain, it's completely unique to the user.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
People use avatars to communicate constantly. They make gifts, they
make stickers, they make short form animations. And what we're
basically letting people do is take our ip our brand
customize it to fit whatever they want their digital likeness
to be.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That avatar also has something Julian calls a collector's profile,
where they can pay for videos, illustrations, and animations from
the Doodle's universe, so they get to create a permanent
identity and show off their fandom with content they truly own.
Doodles recently collaborated with Pharrell Williams and Lil Wayne to
(13:26):
produce Project Gray, a short film hosted on the Doodles Network.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
A twenty minute short film that would ultimately set the
foundation for all the storytelling that we wanted to do
in our universe.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
During the making of Project Gray, Doodles included some of
its users on chain avatars. In the actual film.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
They can say to their friends and family like Hey,
I'm in a Pharrell music video, Like this is a
really kind of novel concept that doesn't exist in any
other form of media.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That moment pointed to the future of immersive content where
every viewer had a concrete stake in the story they
were watching. The film ended up premiering at the twenty
twenty four Toronto International Film Festival.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
The audience they were blown away, like there were people crying,
There were people like that. It gave them chills because
it's truly becoming a community, it's truly becoming part of
the IP and the brand versus just a passive participant.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Doodles posted the short film on YouTube for everyone to see,
like all of its original content, but Doodles also allowed
people to buy tickets for the film on chain and
users could add the film to their collectors' profiles. In
the end, they sold more than fifty thousand tickets.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
And that concept right there is unheard of for most creators. Wait,
you can sell content and people want to own that content.
They're willing to pay you a dollar fifty cents thirty
cents to own collect that And the answer is yes.
And I think the more and more people start learning
about distributing content on chain, the more people are going
to be drawn to it. And a lot of that
(15:00):
really boils down to how can you have fun with
your friends on the internet.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Going on chain can give economic power back to creators
and help them create stronger relationships with their fans. And
this community building aspect of the technology goes beyond the
digital economy. Like, if you're dining out in New York
City anytime soon, you could check out an on chain
app called Blackbird. Here's coinbase is Jesse Pollock.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Again, they're building a new product on chain that lets
restaurants build that more direct relationship with customers.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Blackbird is kind of like a traditional dining rewards program,
but by going on chain, the app gives restaurants a direct,
transparent connection with every customer who's using it to make
a reservation, check in, or pay for their meal.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
So when a customer goes in they just tap their phone.
The restaurant now knows who they are, they can kind
of customize the experience around them.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
This creates an easy to see history for every Blackbird
customer at the restaurant, a personal profile that follows every
interaction you have, which really matters to restaurants who thrive
on building a community of local diners.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
And then over time, as you show up more, you're
actually building kind of who you are, what you love,
which you can then choose to also take to other restaurants,
which means you're going to have a more intimate experience
at every next restaurant that you show up at. There's
now hundreds of restaurants in New York City that are
using this platform to make it so that they can
have more direct relationship with their customers.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Companies like Blackbird and Doodles are trailblazers today, but as
more businesses create closer relationships with their customers by going
on chain, these kinds of apps could become the new normal.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
And so what I think we're starting to see right
now is almost this exponential ramp where people are seeing
whoa this thing is new and it might look small
right now, but if I opt into it, I can
live a better life for my small business, for my music,
for my art, from my day to day living as
a consumer in the American or global economy. And I
(17:09):
think as more people see that, we'll kind of see
this transformation where the world shifts from online to on chain.
And it won't happen overnight, but it will accelerate faster
and faster and faster until the entire world's on chain.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
In eighteenth century England, publishers did everything they could to
maintain control and profit off author's original works. These guys
were classic gatekeepers, setting the rules for how ideas and
voices could be heard. Centuries later, we're still living with
that model. But every time a prolific writer, or a
local business or any of us goes on chain, we
(17:50):
could be ushering in a new era in history where
there's no gate, no wall that keeps creators from having
control over their work, earning money from their fans, and
growing with the community that matters most to them. Thank
you to Adrian Johns, Jesse Pollock, and Julian Hogan. This
is Evolving Money, a podcast from Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios.
(18:13):
If you like what you hear, subscribe and leave us
a review. I'm Maggie Lake. Thanks for listening.
Because you're a subscriber to this Bloomberg podcast, we thought
you'd be interested in a sponsored podcast called Evolving Money,
produced by Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios. It explores how
money has changed over the centuries and whether cryptocurrency is
just the next logical evolution of how we pay for
things and store long term value. Here is a recent episode.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
Every day, billions of people share their creativity online, but
when their creative work goes viral, who benefits? Imagine a
young woman, a dancer with a modest social media following.
One morning, she comes up with a new dance at
the kitchen table and posts a video. Her followers don't
just like it and scroll on. They start imitating her
(00:47):
moves and posting their own versions of the dance, and
big media channels get a ready made story by covering
the viral craze. There's even a cheeky SNL skill. The
platform she originally posted on is benefiting from the traffic
and ad revenue, and they decide exactly how much of
the pie she gets. But does it have to be
(01:08):
that way? What if new technologies could give creators complete
ownership over their content earn exponentially more money from their
fans and create new revenue models, rebuilding their creator economy
as we know it. Welcome to a new season of
Evolving Money from Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios. I'm your host,
(01:30):
Maggie Lake. On this podcast, we'll continue to take a
different look at cryptocurrency. It's been cast as a radical
departure for the monetary system, but what if it wasn't
radical at all. This season, as we've seen more and
more businesses, institutions, and consumers adopt cryptocurrency, will dive deeper
into the newest applications of blockchain technology as we explore
(01:53):
how money has changed over the centuries and look for
lessons that might predict its next evolution. In this episode,
we're looking at how blockchains might revolutionize how people post,
interact with, and profit from original content online. Most content
creators know that the handful of social media platforms who
distribute their work have enormous power over how much they earn.
(02:16):
This isn't a new problem. Artists and thinkers have always
had to deal with gatekeepers fighting for the right to
own their work and its proceeds. But can blockchain technology
really disrupt the walled garden landscape that shapes the flow
of art, ideas and money in the twenty first century.
To find out, I'll talk to Jesse Pollock, creator of Base,
(02:40):
and Julian Holgan, CEO of the Web three entertainment company Doodles,
two leaders who are charting a new path forward by
bringing creativity and content on chain. Let's go way back
to sixteen ninety four. Perched at his desk writing a
protest letter by cat Handlelight is philosopher John Locke. You
(03:03):
remember him from history class. Locke's been wanting to publish
his writing on religion, but he's been blocked from doing it.
You see, after the invention of the printing press, a
single group controls all publishing in England, the Worshipful Company
of Stationers.
Speaker 3 (03:20):
What a name, right. The Stationers are everybody who's involved
in the making and distribution and sale of books, so printers, binders,
type founders, the people who sell the books of the public.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
That's doctor Adrian Johns. He chairs the history department at
the University of Chicago, specializing in the histories of science,
the book, media, and information. This group of publishers, the Stationers,
have a royal warrant to print and this warrant protects
the stationers from competition.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
It was essentially a monopoly, a kind of cartel that
looked after the whole trade.
Speaker 2 (03:55):
Locke is one of the loudest voices in a chorus
of thinkers, writers and printers calling for an end to
the stationer's monopoly, and eventually, in sixteen ninety five, the
Crown lets its royal warrant with the stationers expire.
Speaker 3 (04:10):
When that act lapses, there's no legal sanctuary more against
pirating books. It's a kind of golden age for literary piracy.
So whatever you write is free game for anybody.
Speaker 2 (04:23):
This period of anarchy lasts for about fifteen years until
seventeen ten, when Parliament passes a new act, the Statute
of Anne. Now, if any other person who isn't explicitly
approved by the author to print or reprint their work
tries to reproduce it, the author can basically say hey, stop,
that's mine and ask a court for an injunction. This was,
(04:46):
in essence the birth of copyright law. Sounds like a
big improvement, right, but the publishers respond by forming cartels
called congers to reclaim their power.
Speaker 3 (04:58):
In practice, if you have to tow biggest publishers in
London all collaborating on this. They have enormous power, so
de facto, these congers kind of act to preserve the
same kinds of rights that the station as company had
always registered before.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
So the vast majority of writers still don't have real
control over how their works are made public or what
they'll earn from their ideas. The same dynamic continues in
some form to this day.
Speaker 3 (05:25):
So we've seen notoriously, through various mergers and so forth,
the development of sort of super media firms that hold
the publishing houses together. This idea that the commanding heights
of the literary culture are held by a relatively small
number of very powerful commercial operations. You know, it feels
a little bit uncomfortably like we're back to that.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
As the world has moved online, so have the same
issues around consolidated power and ownership rights that have plagued
creators for quite literally centuries.
Speaker 4 (05:58):
I think if you look at the last twenty years,
with the creation of the Internet, we've seen the emergence
of these incredible platforms that have connected people all around
the world.
Speaker 2 (06:07):
That's Jesse Pollock, VP of Engineering at coinbase and creator of.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Base, but I think at the same time, one of
the big challenges has been that as people have brought
their creativity online, they've predominantly brought it into these platforms
that they don't control.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Our own Base is a platform that people can use
to build all kinds of apps with blockchain technology. Jesse
told me he created the platform because he wanted to
help content creators and small businesses take true ownership of
their work by building more direct relationships with fans and
customers and deciding how to earn money through those connections.
Speaker 4 (06:44):
So let's say you're creator and you make a video.
You take your video, you put it on a platform,
and then it gets distributed kind of based on an
algorithm that you can't see or understand. You get paid
whatever that platform decides to pay you, which is a
total black box.
Speaker 2 (07:00):
But if you're a web creator, it's not like there's
much choice, and.
Speaker 4 (07:04):
If you say, hey, I want to take my distribution
somewhere else, you don't actually have that option. You are
stuck in the existing system.
Speaker 2 (07:13):
And so the creator is left making whatever money the
platform offers them. Jesse estimates it's about five percent, and
the platform keeps the rest. Then the creator has to
pay transaction fees and phase delays in getting paid.
Speaker 4 (07:28):
And that's a thing that I think just in the
last few years, people are waking up to as they see, Oh,
I feel like I'm getting scraps when these corporations are
making hundreds of billions of dollars. And I think that
collective awakening is kind of bringing us to a new
moment where we're realizing, Hey, maybe we need better tools,
maybe we need better platforms, and maybe we need a
(07:49):
better internet that actually puts creators first.
Speaker 2 (07:53):
That phrase a better internet, Jesse means that literally. He
thinks that blockchain platforms can the essential tools for communication, purchases,
and analytics outside the walled gardens of today's social media.
This wouldn't just shift the places where content goes viral,
it would also shift where people make money and how
(08:14):
new revenue models can take off. I asked Jesse to
walk me through this transition, starting with the difference between
going online to going on chain. So what do you
mean when you say on chain?
Speaker 4 (08:27):
On chain is the next generation of the Internet that's
built on blockchains like base and it's a powerful internet
where everyone everywhere has the same access and it is
on a level playing field where they're able to build
and use new apps that are ten x better.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
So how will that look? What change will that mean
for creators When it comes to things like owning my
art and getting paid for it and reaching my audience.
Speaker 4 (08:58):
You do the exact same thing. You take your music,
you take your video, and you put it on chain,
but now all of the algorithms are open, so you
can actually understand what's going to lead to more distribution
versus less distribution. And if you want to take your
network to another app because you're excited about trying something new,
you can just take it with you because it's yours.
Speaker 2 (09:17):
So the creator retains control over the distribution and monetization
of their work. And as more creators see that benefit
and take their work on chain, the enormous slice of
revenue that they're used to handing over to social media
platforms could fuel a new network of businesses.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
That network that you're distributing to is not controlled by
one company. It's open and accessible to everyone who wants
to build on it. And so what that means is
we're actually going to have a Cambrian explosion of people
who are building on that graph and that network and
it's a new Internet that's going to put creators, musicians, videographers,
(09:55):
small businesses first, and going to make it so businesses
have to serve and have to help them be successful
on a new open platform where everyone can win.
Speaker 2 (10:06):
The musician example caught my ear because I'm always keeping
tabs on my favorite artist and trying to see if
I can catch them at a live show. Jesse showed
me how my relationship to my favorite artists could be
much more personalized if each step were brought on chain.
Speaker 4 (10:21):
I think the thing that's really powerful about the new
on chain platform is that these creators, these musicians, they
can actually build a deeper relationship with the people who
care most about them. Because those folks are going to
be able to have a relationship where they say, hey,
I want to support you, and I'm going to mince
your song, and then that's going to be this kind
of like historical record of how I participated with you
(10:44):
in a new platform, and that record is going to
span across everything that you do.
Speaker 2 (10:50):
Say I buy an album, then buy some merch then
watch their live stream. If this all happens on chain,
the artists will be able to directly track all all
of those interactions between us across any app and use
that to personalize or deepen our relationship.
Speaker 4 (11:07):
The artists are then going to be able to look
across all that and say, oh, here are the people
who've listened to me on this app and that app
and showed up at my show, And now I'm going
to say, okay, let's give them a targeted experience. For instance,
let's make it so that they can be first in
line for purchasing.
Speaker 2 (11:22):
Tickets, or the artists could send me personalized messages, exclusive
set lists, or invite me to a post show meet
up with other super fans.
Speaker 4 (11:31):
With this new on chain infrastructure, we're actually going to
be able to build more customized, more human, more direct
experiences that let artists and creators reach their most important,
most connected fans, give them better experiences, which will make
that relationship deeper and really be a win win for
both the creative side and the consumption side.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
This new on chain world isn't just theoretical. It's here now.
Speaker 5 (11:59):
We believe that we're building a next generation entertainment company.
Speaker 2 (12:03):
That's Julian Holgan as the president of Billboard, he transformed
that brand from a music trade magazine to an international
multiplatform experience.
Speaker 4 (12:13):
Now.
Speaker 2 (12:14):
Julian is the CEO of Doodles, a digital entertainment platform
that's built entirely on Chain.
Speaker 5 (12:20):
We're basically what a modern day cartoon franchise might look like.
We make short films, We make original music. Those often
come with music videos, animated music videos. We do digital comics,
illustrated posters. We really use humor in all of our content.
Speaker 2 (12:37):
But Doodles is also a social community in the Doodles universe.
When users sign up, they create a digital avatar, a Doodle,
which they can customize however they want. Because the avatar
is on chain, it's completely unique to the user.
Speaker 5 (12:52):
People use avatars to communicate constantly. They make gifts, they
make stickers, they make short form animations. And what we're
basically letting people do is take our ip our brand
customize it to fit whatever they want their digital likeness
to be.
Speaker 2 (13:06):
That avatar also has something Julian calls a collector's profile,
where they can pay for videos, illustrations, and animations from
the Doodle's universe, so they get to create a permanent
identity and show off their fandom with content they truly own.
Doodles recently collaborated with Pharrell Williams and Lil Wayne to
(13:26):
produce Project Gray, a short film hosted on the Doodles Network.
Speaker 5 (13:31):
A twenty minute short film that would ultimately set the
foundation for all the storytelling that we wanted to do
in our universe.
Speaker 2 (13:39):
During the making of Project Gray, Doodles included some of
its users on chain avatars. In the actual film.
Speaker 5 (13:45):
They can say to their friends and family like Hey,
I'm in a Pharrell music video, Like this is a
really kind of novel concept that doesn't exist in any
other form of media.
Speaker 2 (13:54):
That moment pointed to the future of immersive content where
every viewer had a concrete stake in the story they
were watching. The film ended up premiering at the twenty
twenty four Toronto International Film Festival.
Speaker 5 (14:06):
The audience they were blown away, like there were people crying,
There were people like that. It gave them chills because
it's truly becoming a community, it's truly becoming part of
the IP and the brand versus just a passive participant.
Speaker 2 (14:20):
Doodles posted the short film on YouTube for everyone to see,
like all of its original content, but Doodles also allowed
people to buy tickets for the film on chain and
users could add the film to their collectors' profiles. In
the end, they sold more than fifty thousand tickets.
Speaker 5 (14:37):
And that concept right there is unheard of for most creators. Wait,
you can sell content and people want to own that content.
They're willing to pay you a dollar fifty cents thirty
cents to own collect that And the answer is yes.
And I think the more and more people start learning
about distributing content on chain, the more people are going
to be drawn to it. And a lot of that
(15:00):
really boils down to how can you have fun with
your friends on the internet.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
Going on chain can give economic power back to creators
and help them create stronger relationships with their fans. And
this community building aspect of the technology goes beyond the
digital economy. Like, if you're dining out in New York
City anytime soon, you could check out an on chain
app called Blackbird. Here's coinbase is Jesse Pollock.
Speaker 4 (15:30):
Again, they're building a new product on chain that lets
restaurants build that more direct relationship with customers.
Speaker 2 (15:38):
Blackbird is kind of like a traditional dining rewards program,
but by going on chain, the app gives restaurants a direct,
transparent connection with every customer who's using it to make
a reservation, check in, or pay for their meal.
Speaker 4 (15:53):
So when a customer goes in they just tap their phone.
The restaurant now knows who they are, they can kind
of customize the experience around them.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
This creates an easy to see history for every Blackbird
customer at the restaurant, a personal profile that follows every
interaction you have, which really matters to restaurants who thrive
on building a community of local diners.
Speaker 4 (16:15):
And then over time, as you show up more, you're
actually building kind of who you are, what you love,
which you can then choose to also take to other restaurants,
which means you're going to have a more intimate experience
at every next restaurant that you show up at. There's
now hundreds of restaurants in New York City that are
using this platform to make it so that they can
have more direct relationship with their customers.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
Companies like Blackbird and Doodles are trailblazers today, but as
more businesses create closer relationships with their customers by going
on chain, these kinds of apps could become the new normal.
Speaker 4 (16:46):
And so what I think we're starting to see right
now is almost this exponential ramp where people are seeing
whoa this thing is new and it might look small
right now, but if I opt into it, I can
live a better life for my small business, for my music,
for my art, from my day to day living as
a consumer in the American or global economy. And I
(17:09):
think as more people see that, we'll kind of see
this transformation where the world shifts from online to on chain.
And it won't happen overnight, but it will accelerate faster
and faster and faster until the entire world's on chain.
Speaker 2 (17:27):
In eighteenth century England, publishers did everything they could to
maintain control and profit off author's original works. These guys
were classic gatekeepers, setting the rules for how ideas and
voices could be heard. Centuries later, we're still living with
that model. But every time a prolific writer, or a
local business or any of us goes on chain, we
(17:50):
could be ushering in a new era in history where
there's no gate, no wall that keeps creators from having
control over their work, earning money from their fans, and
growing with the community that matters most to them. Thank
you to Adrian Johns, Jesse Pollock, and Julian Hogan. This
is Evolving Money, a podcast from Coinbase and Bloomberg Media Studios.
(18:13):
If you like what you hear, subscribe and leave us
a review. I'm Maggie Lake. Thanks for listening.
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