A Denver, Colorado-based Virtual Reality startup named Blockphase has announced that 50 content creators and studios have signed on to participate in the Beta phase of their PhaseRight VR platform, which is set to begin in the second quarter of 2017.

Blockphase CEO Steven Austine said, “We are excited that these talented virtual reality and 360 video content creators have offered to join our PhaseRight VR beta. As we look to build our decentralized Blockchain distribution platform, their participation will be vital to us delivering a top quality product.”

Blockphase, founded in mid-2016, is harnessing the power of Blockchain and smart-contract technology to build the PhaseRight VR platform, a digital content distribution system for virtual reality and 360 video creators that will allow artists to secure digital copyright proof, ensure proper participation credits, utilize cutting edge distribution technology and have the ability to receive immediate micro transaction payments from their fans.

With this new effort, Blockphase joins startups like dotBlockchain Music Project and Yours Network in an effort to make it easier for content creators and artists to monetize their work without giving up any more of their rights than they are comfortable with or settling for a small percentage of their earnings. As services like the Reddit-based Bitcointip have shown, the ability to quickly send micropayment awards for favorite content is a popular one with both content creators and their audiences. (I’ve been tipped with a small Reddcoin amount before. It’s neat.) Crossing reliable protection of Intellectual Property rights with an easier publishing process and swift payments from users are likely to make Blockchain-based services like Blockphase, Yours and dotBlockchain popular with independent artists.

These are people who might have wished that it was easier for independent artists and small studios to compete with big-name artists that are backed by large mainstream studios and publishers. They want to be able to reach their target audiences without lawyers, bureaucrats and C-Suite executives getting in the way and making it difficult for them to be discovered. Startups like Blockphase aim to solve many of the complaints from artists who have had to put up with headaches from the mainstream publishing industry by addressing these four points listed on the Blockphase website:

Give artists control over setting usage policies for their created content. The artists choose how they want their intellectual property to be used. Blockphase will not tell you what to do with your intellectual property or even criticize your decisions.
Allow for instantaneous payment when content is watched. Get your money faster and keep more of it. This is great for artists who have bills to pay and don’t want to wait for payment.
Remove the need for monopolistic, opaque and inefficient content hubs. More decisions are made by the artists without having to ask for an executive’s permission or wait for an answer. Blockphase bootstraps Blockchain technology to make the process more transparent and efficient.
Create customized loyalty programs to better reward fans. Boy, did Kanye West ever miss an opportunity! (He’s a jerk, right?) Blockphase includes tools you can use to create your own loyalty program.

So the good news for artists and content creators is that more startups like Blockphase are bootstrapping the Blockchain to work for them rather than them working for uncaring executives of studios and publishing companies for the dribs and drabs of royalty payments that C-Suite executives are willing to toss their way. This is a good chance for creators of Virtual Reality content to monetize it while VR headsets are still sort of new while retaining more of their Intellectual Property rights.

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