Why the music industry must build a new value system, and how digital fan marketplaces make it possible – Music Business Worldwide

MBW Views is a series of op-eds from eminent music industry people… with something to say. The following MBW op/ed comes from Paul Knowles, the co-founder of Dune, an app-based engagement platform that lets music fans buy a ‘stake’ in their favourite artists, which then fluctuates in value daily based on their streaming data. Fans also receive exclusive benefits from artists and can trade their stakes through the platform, with artists receiving income and valuable fan insights from any stakes sold.

For decades, the recorded music business was built on a simple premise: the music itself was the commodity. It had inherent, monetizable value. Fans bought it, labels sold it and artists were paid (imperfectly but paid nonetheless) because the art they created held market worth.

That era is over.

In today’s landscape, music as a commodity has been devalued to near zero. Streaming has turned songs into an infinite resource, priced in fractions of pennies. The recorded output that once sustained careers has effectively become promotional material for everything around the artist, not the music itself.

And so, we’ve arrived at the uncomfortable truth at the center of the modern industry: the music itself no longer holds the intrinsic value. The artist has become the product.

Their personality, their time, their presence, their proximity, these are now the monetizable resources. But they are finite ones because artists can only tour so many days in a year, they can only do so many VIP meet-and-greets and they can only post so much content, sign so many brand deals or appear at so many events.

The revenue models we’ve pushed artists toward depend on physical endurance, endless visibility, and a constant churn of output. It’s an exhausting system layered atop economics that no longer reflect how fans behave or how music is consumed.

The question we should all be asking labels, managers, platforms and artists alike is instead: how do we build a long-term, equitable income system for artists when the core product that built our industry has been devalued?

The answer requires a cultural shift just as significant as streaming was 15 years ago, which requires a new revenue engine, one not constrained by touring schedules, ticket inventory or the burnout economy.

And it begins with recognizing a reality we’ve ignored for too long:

Digital fan engagement is not an accessory to the music business. It is the next major revenue stream.

Look at fan behavior today. Fans don’t just want to listen they want to participate; they want to feel close to the artists they love, and they want to support them directly, visibly, and meaningfully. They already spend more on digital fandom than on physical formats, engaging on social platforms, subscribing to creators, participating in virtual communities and paying for exclusive digital access.

Yet the music industry has never built an effective economic system that channels these behaviors and energy into sustainable artist income. Instead, tech platforms and social networks have captured the value fans generate, value that should belong to artists.

“We’ve arrived at the uncomfortable truth at the center of the modern industry: the music itself no longer holds the intrinsic value. The artist has become the product.”

Paul Knowles, DUNE

This is where the future is clear – a digital asset marketplace focused on fan engagement is the solution the music industry has been missing. A marketplace where fans can purchase digital “stakes” or collectibles tied to the artists they love, where value is not speculative or artificial, but rooted in the real signals that drive the modern music economy such as streaming performance, growth patterns and cultural momentum.

It is only logical that streaming data and popularity metrics determine value in such a system. These data points already dictate an artist’s career outcomes. They influence the whole spectrum of their careers from A&R interest to playlisting, touring strategy, brand partnerships and ongoing industry & fan perception.

So, why shouldn’t they also define the value of digital assets in a fan-powered marketplace? It’s not a fleeting fad, it’s about building a transparent, culture-driven marketplace aligned with real performance, not hype.

And the benefits run both ways.

For artists, it can unlock a scalable, sustainable revenue stream:

Income that isn’t tied to touring.

Income that continues even between releases.

Income that rewards them for audience growth.

Income that isn’t siphoned off by legacy industry monopolies.

Income that scales with their momentum but doesn’t collapse when they take a break.

In short, a long-term economic engine that artists actually control.

For fans, it transforms passive support into meaningful participation where owning a digital stake or collectible tied to an artist is more than a transaction;  it’s a signal, a badge of belonging,  proof of belief and a way to be seen, recognized and rewarded through access, exclusives, experiences, or simply the emotional satisfaction of being part of something early and real.

In short, it’s fandom with agency.

And for the music industry, it represents a structural correction long overdue.

For years, the biggest players in music have extracted the majority of value generated by fans. Labels, DSPs, tech platforms and ticketing giants have taken their slice of the pie before the artist ever sees theirs.

A fan-driven digital marketplace cuts through that and restores value to the relationship that has always mattered most: artist ↔ fan.

We are at a turning point.

If music is no longer the monetizable commodity, we must build a new value system, one grounded in engagement, community, data, and participation, that both reflects and rewards the realities of today’s fan behaviour.

Digital fan asset marketplaces aren’t an NFT-style novelty, they’re not a trend. Instead, they are the logical, inevitable next chapter in the business of music, where artists finally have access to long-term, equitable income and where their fans are empowered stakeholders, not invisible consumers.

And it’s where the music industry evolves toward transparency, fairness, and sustainability, not away from it.

This isn’t just cultural and commercial innovation, it’s the course correction our industry has needed for years.Music Business Worldwide