British blockchain startup Blockpool is best known to Music Ally readers for its recent partnership with Björk and One Little Indian, to reward fans who pre-ordered her new album by giving them cryptocurrency.
Now it has announced a partnership with a company called OpSec, which could also have implications for music. It needs a bit of unpicking.
“The relationship seeks to establish an integrated offer combining ‘chain-of-custody’ with advanced digital product authentication solutions for global brand protection,” is how OpSec put it in a press release. Blockpool’s Minesh Patel broke that down for Music Ally.
It means brands can use blockchain technology “to leverage security labels and handtags as a marketing tool to better interact with their customers at point of purchase or post purchase, and engage them in new ways (competitions, free gifts, exclusive content and more) to build loyalty as well as reward them for buying genuine products,” said Patel.
So it’s about rewards and follow-on marketing tied to “proof of purchase” for merchandise, tickets and other non-streaming products, in a music context.
“We are currently developing a proof-of-concept with a major US artist, utilising our core technology with our geolocation piece, OpSec’s customer-insights platform and a third-party full-service merchandise company,” added CEO Kevin Bacon.
“It’s apparel as a ticket, a key to unlock experiences, an entry point to extended rewards, as well as provenance and warranty management.” Further details will be announced in due course.
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