Working Out Loud: RightsLedger, a Los Angeles-based company, Shifts the Power Dynamic of the Entertainment Industry from the Corporations to Independent Markets

The Silicon Review

Over the past 20 years, our team has developed innovative software solutions for entertainment industry leaders, including Disney, MGM, Paramount Pictures, and Sony: Ray Young

Content creators are facing a problem on social media, as many of them struggle to profit from their work.

For example, WeChat has 3.5 million monthly active official accounts, but not many of them earn from the platform. On Instagram, users complained about the new algorithm that was rolled out in 2016, where the platform scrapped the chronological order of posts. Content creators across the world noticed that their posts were declining in visibility and engagement.

Other social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter have similar algorithms as well.

Social media platforms are benefiting at the expense of small content creators. Those who are not big enough like the Kardashians have to struggle to increase their content’s visibility. And top influencers, who often make up a small percentage of active users on most of these platforms, have little to worry about.

There is a clear imbalance within the ecosystem and it needs to change.

In light of the above-mentioned concern, we are thrilled to present RightsLedger – the universal platform for amateur and professional digital content creators to authenticate, manage, and monetize content, using blockchain technology. The RightsLedger global content and rights marketplace platform includes registration, licensing, ownership and deal tracking and digital fingerprinting applications, plus a payment portal.

The company was incorporated in 2016 and is headquartered in Los Angeles, CA.

Ray Young, RightsLedger Founder/CEO, spoke exclusively to The Silicon Review. Below is an excerpt.

Rewind: Starting Off on the Right Foot

RightsLedger was set up to provide a solution to various problems in the entertainment and digital media industry. Living in a world surrounded by digital content (film, TV, social media, everywhere), creating and sharing digital content is easier than ever before, but tracking who owns and making money with content isn’t a reality for most independent creators. Content platforms make billions while most of the content creators don’t make a dime (Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud). Piracy is rampant – content is being taken and regurgitated across various platforms and whether monetized or not, they are taking value away from the original creator.

“We strive to create real value for our consumers. Our existing solutions continuously evolve to create new value or address/adapt to a shifting market. We also look at new opportunities for us to create value with new offerings as well. Constant evolution is necessary for the fast-moving and changing entertainment landscape. Being a tech startup gives us the flexibility to quickly adapt to stay ahead of the curve.”

First Project Roll on: Rewards and Recognition

RightsLedger’s (then WebConcepts, Inc.’s) first project was to help the entertainment industry in optimizing physical media like DVD and Blu-ray distribution to all the major retailers in North America and Europe, and the CEO of the company Ray Young was awarded a US Patent for its process design. The company’s success was the fact that Disney, MGM, Paramount and Sony adopted its technology to manage multi-billion dollars of products sold to 99+ retailers globally. This process allowed the firm to learn a lot about entertainment content economics and the shift in demand for contents from physical to digital.

“With the massive growth of digital content in the internet and social media contributed by independent and social media content creators, we saw a big opportunity for us to help these content creators to claim ownership of their creations and establish rules on how their creations are used and shared.”

Guarding Consumer Interests in Highly Volatile Market: A Terrific Treat

RightsLedger stays relevant to consumer interests by working closely with consumers (content creators) in its target market – independent digital media. “Understanding our market and our customers, alongside being a highly flexible tech startup, allows us to align and adapt very quickly.”

Delivering high quality in every action is a necessary focus (or should be, at least) at any company in any industry, but it is easier said than done. While you may see your product as high quality, consumers may disagree if the product is too difficult to use or doesn’t meet their expectations. Having honest, good intentions and constantly evolving to meet consumer’s needs is just as important as having a high-quality product. A product that fell short of consumer’s expectations can evolve to become a high-quality product and earn trust and respect from consumers.

RightsLedger: Standing Out from the Competition

Industry experience: RightsLedger’s team has developed software solutions for major movie studios over the past 20 years.

Existing Apps: RightsLedger is one of the few blockchain companies with existing, working applications rather than launching with just a vision.

The massive growth of digital contents on the internet and social media platforms contributed by billions of users earning little or no money but helping the platforms generate multi-billion dollars of advertising revenue annually has presented an opportunity for RightsLedger; to contribute using its expertise to help people that need it the most; the content creators. Simply put, these content creators take back control of their creations through blockchain technology for free.

Overview: Products to be Launched

RightsLedger will be launching multiple products this year including Content Registry v1.0 application for video content, Licensing DealPad v1.0 application for video licensing, Launch Content Fingerprint (Alpha) application for video content, Launch the RightsToken (RTK) (second quarter) and Third-Party Content Source Integration feature for Content Registry v1.0 (fourth quarter).

In addition, “there are many offerings in the pipeline for the year 2019.”

Future Arrangements: Sky’s the Limit

RightsLedger platform aims to become a fully tokenized ecosystem that provides value to independent creators and integrates with content delivery and hosting platforms around the world.

Ray Young: A Dynamic Leader

Ray Young is a serial entrepreneur that revolutionized physical video distribution around the world with WebConcepts in 1998. He is now leading the revolution of IP management and monetization with RightsIn and RightsLedger.