Berklee College of Music Partners with NEAR Foundation to Build Music Licensing Platform

Berklee College of Music, the largest independent college of contemporary music and performing arts in the world, announced today a partnership with the NEAR Foundation to help build a music licensing platform. 

The agreement, which will harness NEAR Protocol’s easy-to-use tech stack, will lead to the creation of a marketplace where musicians can upload their music, and creators can license music from the students of this world-class music institution. 

The project will be released under an app called RAIDAR, which stands for Rights and Asset Information in Decentralized, Authoritative Repositories. Thanks to NEAR’s Web3 technology, all transactions will be recorded on the NEAR blockchain, ensuring a creators’ rights and representation are recorded on-chain. 

Behind Berklee’s music licensing app, built on NEAR

RAIDAR will use smart contracts to disintermediate the licensing process and ensure that musicians receive the full economic value and credit for their works. 

“This is a first of its kind product that will help to democratize the world of music by putting creators first and ensuring they are always rewarded and protected from exploitation for their original work,” says George Howard, Distinguished Professor of Music Business at Berklee. 

“Those who are seeking to license music for their projects now have a chance to access and support new creators by tapping into an exciting marketplace through the RAIDAR app, which is easy to navigate and offers a safe and reliable way to pay for music.”

RAIDAR — simple to use, accessible to all

The product is designed to be simple to use, which is a cornerstone of building on the NEAR Protocol. Musicians simply upload their music files and relevant metadata through a mobile- and desktop-friendly web app. 

Their song is then represented by a unique, secure smart contract and assigned to the creator’s wallet as an asset or NFT, empowering the creator to view and showcase the song, wherever they go.  

On the customer side, users can browse, search, and preview songs uploaded to the RAIDAR app and purchase single-use licenses for songs via the app. The song’s smart contract distributes funds received from the payment to the song’s creator. After the purchase transaction completes, the buyer receives an email with the corresponding song download link and a copy of the license agreement.

“We are extremely excited to be working with Berklee to support a new and unique use case that has real world value for those that use it,” says  Chris Donovan, CEO of the NEAR Foundation. 

“The RAIDAR app is a disruptive technology built on NEAR  that will help students to explore the power of smart contracts to ensure they are being paid fairly for their work, and that the world of music becomes more inclusive, safe and exciting for everyone.”