Media Protocol - ELIMINATING UNNECESSARY INTERMEDIARIES WHILE DECENTRALIZING THE CONTENT MARKET

In the current world set up, most of the content we would like to consume come from centralized bodies. There are major players who host or help distribute most of this content. Players such as Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are among the top content promoters hosting ads or links to content in other platforms. Companies like Netflix and Amazon have the largest market share of media consumers in the TV series and movie segment. Spotify and Apple music control music streaming in major economies of the world. There are other alternatives out there but their growth would still lead to consumers suffering from the same disadvantages of having content hosted by a central body. The strength accorded to these centralized bodies give them the power to dictate variables in content distribution and creation.
Media Protocol is coming into the content market, bringing with it the decentralizing technology that is blockchain to create a fair content market which is controlled by all players and not just some centralized bodies at the top. The aim of Media Protocol is to reduce the cost required to distribute content and also to empower consumers whenever they read, watch or listen to content hosted in platform that have incorporated Media Protocol.

Rewarding content consumption
(Source: whitepaper)
Ever since the first smartphone was released, the sales numbers have been increasing yearly until recently when they took a slight slump. Despite this decrease in number of new smartphones bought, the overall number of smartphones in the world is staggering. With an estimated number of over 2B smartphones, it can be assumed that all over 2B people have access to the internet where they can readily consume content.
The average time a person spends in front of a screen, especially on their phones, has been increasing. Media Protocol wants to make it valuable for people to spend time consuming content, after all, time is money. By creating a reward system based on activities surrounding consumption of content, Media Protocol will have an elaborate incentive system that will attract parties to incorporate Media Protocol into their platform. More users are likely to consume content or help spread content across the internet if there are incentives attached to them.
Moreover, Media Protocol will make their tokens tradeable in digital asset exchanges which would make these tokens even more valuable. With limited circulation of the tokens, early owners of the tokens, known as Media tokens, are likely to enjoy better value as the use of Media Protocol increases. Different activities in the platform will attract certain fees or will provide rewards depending on a user’s interaction with this content. A sort of economy may be created through this reward system and the subsequent use of the tokens within and beyond the Media Protocol ecosystem.

Decentralization in the content market

Blockchain has proved that in some instances, decentralization is best in order to achieve efficiency. In the case of the content market, decentralization will prove vital to the growth of this market.
Why decentralization is needed
Clickbait is one of the most annoying tech innovations to come up in the 21st century. Some platforms have failed to get attractive content and resolve to methods such as clickbait to try and get viewership of their content. This and other unethical practices are caused by the dominance of centralized content consumption platforms. The same strategy can be seen across all content hosting and distribution platforms. Content curators for these platforms usually want to stick to their tried and tested content without considering the growth and diversity of the market. The mainstream consumers mostly benefit from this trend, however, there is a growing base for unique content consumers who are interested in content that may not be popular in mainstream platforms. Decentralization would bring freedom in the content creation and distribution space.
With decentralization, centralized platforms would lose the hold that they have on the content market. Smaller platforms will have an equal chance of getting their content distributed in the market as their target markets demand for these products. This would also translate to freedom in creativity as content creators can experiment with different content exploiting the diversity of the market that had been hidden under the control of major market players.
Decentralization is also a key factor in reducing the budget brands spend on advertising their products by linking them with certain content. Centralized platforms allowed the top media platforms to charge whatever they deem reasonable according to their own chain of thought. Brands end up paying exorbitant prices as these platforms leverage the numbers that they attract through the content that they host. Decentralization would introduce more players giving brands more advertising options which may be within their set budget. This would lead to lower costs of products and services for the consumer while at the same time being compensated for consuming content produced for them.

Better control of data

The use of blockchain to effect decentralization will also come with a few other perks. Data control for consumers is one of them. Centralized platforms have terms and conditions that include data collection of some sort, and since a greater percentage of the market rarely reads these terms and conditions, they get exploited. This data can be fed to other companies for advertising purposes or other income generating activities. Users of these platforms do not have control over their data or how it is going to be used and sometimes they would have legally given up this data through agreeing to the terms and conditions of these platforms. Decentralization through blockchain would give users control over their personal data. They could easily determine how their data is being collected and where it is going to be used. Media Protocol also seeks to monetize this data by rewarding Media tokens to those users who provide their data for use by the platform.
Transparency through Media Protocol will be unrivalled in the content market space. This may resonate well with audiences worldwide leading them to select Media Protocol over centralized platforms.

Direct to Consumer (DTC)
(source: Whitepaper)
The aim of decentralization is to remove middlemen from the market. Various studies and even from a layman’s perspective, it is the middlemen that usually end up making the most from content that has been produced by creatives. Middlemen are the ones linked to the consumers, obtaining content at a relatively cheap price and making them available at a much higher price. The creator usually gets paid for selling their content once whereas the content can be used and reused multiple times by different parties who pay middlemen for the use of that content. It is an unfair set up that can be quashed through decentralization.
The direct to consumer approach becomes favorable for both the consumer and content creators. Unnecessary middlemen are eliminated leaving a smooth path for content to flow from the creator directly to the consumer. Normally for any content to finally reach its target consumer especially those with ads attached to them, they have to go through various agencies which revises the cost upwards for each step the content takes. By the time it reaches the consumer, the cost that would have been spent would be spent mostly on paying these intermediaries. By eliminating unnecessary intermediaries, it would allow creators to make more while having an overall lower cost of operations and lower fees for advertising. Content creators would have the freedom of charging every time their content is used. They could even create a subscription service to their content which would be more convenient to their audience. Brands will also find it cheaper advertising with them. Since a lot of creators will be serving different markets, brands will only work with those that distribute content to their target market thus saving costs on two fronts. Consumers on the other hand will find a wide variety of content to meet their ever-evolving needs.

Media tokens
The Media token will be the official currency in use while transacting in anything involving Media Protocol. Brands who may want to advertise their products through Media Protocol will need Media tokens to pay for the services that will be provided to them. Users of Media Protocol will also need them to pay for subscription to content channels. Media Protocol is designed to always have Media tokens in use to help improve their value in the exchanges which they will be participating in.
Cryptocatnip
(Source: Whitepaper)
Media Protocol already has a guide on how it is going to work and how developers are going to integrate their platforms with Media Protocol. Cryptocatnip acts as this guide for both developers and users. From its operations, developers can know how to get the best out of Media Protocol and can improve on any short comings they realize. Content consumers can have a feel of the platform to understand how they will be receiving

Media Protocol is an innovative platform with the future of the content market at heart. Its decentralizing drive may prove to be appropriate for the future. You can read more about the project, its token economics including its advantages can be obtained from their official website or through the following links
Website
WhitePaper
BusinessPaper
Pre-Sale Application Form
ANN Thread
Telegram
ANN Telegram

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