Imogen Heap is known for her experimental approach in the creative arts, so in many ways it comes as little surprise she is a big fan of the opportunities ‘Blockchain’ offers to artists (Check our her excellent blog ImogenHeap). Her creative think tank Mycelia for Music is a great example of artists taking a proactive approach to the impact of technology on the creative industries Mycelia

On the homepage, the organisation /collective describes its objectives thus :
Mycelia is …
Founded by Imogen heap, we are a growing collective of creatives, professionals and lovers of music.
Our mission is:
+ To empower a fair, sustainable and vibrant music industry ecosystem involving all online music interaction services,
+ To unlock the huge potential for creators and their music related metadata so an entirely new commercial marketplace may flourish,
+ To ensure all involved are paid and acknowledged fully.
+ To see commercial, ethical and technical standards are set to exponentially increase innovation for the music services of the future,
+ To connect the dots with all those involved in this shift from our current outdated music industry models, exploring new technological solutions to enliven and positively impact the music ecosystem

One of the team’s goals is to ‘connect the dots’ exploring new business models and new technology solutions. Their Creative Passport initiative is a case in point, seeking to bring an artist more seamlessly to the technologies and platforms that support their work, and to ensure all the elements of the creative process are acknowledged, tracked and recorded. The Creative Passport is described as follows : For creatives in the music industry, there is no standard database or beacon of information for artists and their works.
Imogen, for instance, across the various PROs, labels publishers has over 20 different IDs accounts and numbers, none of them connected to each other.
With the creative passport, not only would all these Identities be linked under a single umbrella, but also all the works and the roles that an artists’ had over the years could be officially verified and offered to the music sector.
Right now most of the information on an artist, or a song, comes from non-verified sources if any is not shown at all. This is basic information regarding session players, mixing and mastering engineers, songwriters, or any of the the many other collaborators behind a piece of music.

A kind of digital creative fingerprint and authenticated wiki. Cool Stuff. To keep up with the activities remember to check the Mycelia website and sign up for their latest.