Author: Arain, ChainCatcher
"I got my peaches out in Georgia"——
If you are a heavy user of Douyin or Tiktok, you must have heard this lyric, imagining a summer evening, holding the steering wheel with one hand, chasing the sunset leisurely.
This scene is perfect for listening to Justin Bieber's "Peaches". Since its release, the song has accumulated over 2.5 billion plays on major music platforms and has received a 4x platinum sales certification in the US - meaning this song could create value exceeding $100 million.
You may say "What's that to do with me?" It had nothing to do with you before, but after Aria Protocol puts its copyright on-chain, you and I may also have a chance to take a bite of this fruit.
Capturing 1% of the 61 Trillion IP Market Offline
Aria Protocol is a new project established in 2024, currently built on the Story Protocol, a Layer 1 blockchain focused on IP management, and is the IP RWA protocol that has attracted attention in the Story ecosystem.
The core of Aria Protocol is to solve the pain points of the intellectual property market. Although the traditional IP market is worth $61 trillion, currently, almost no IP assets have been tokenized, with extremely low liquidity, and most assets are locked in legal contracts or corporate entities, making it almost impossible for ordinary people to participate.
What does this concept mean?
The outstanding amount of US Treasuries is only $28 trillion. Aria Protocol claims that if it can successfully capture 1% of this IP market, its potential market size will reach $610 billion.
Through blockchain technology, Aria Protocol transforms offline IP assets into tradable tokens (RWIP), allowing distributed ownership and decision-making, and even increasing revenue sources through remixing and derivative works. In simple terms, Aria Protocol is bringing a revolution to the IP market, tokenizing and fractionating real-world intellectual property (such as music, movies, artworks, etc.) through blockchain technology, releasing the liquidity of these assets, and allowing everyone to become a "shareholder" of cultural assets such as music and movies.
In addition to revenue sharing, Aria Protocol also includes the following features:
- Tokenization and fractionalization of IP RWA
- Liquidity and interchangeability of IP RWA
- Distributed ownership and decision-making
- Permissionless co-creation
- Source and verifiable value streams in the age of AI
Aria Protocol has not disclosed more information about the team background, and its founder is RWAkefeller.ip, a mysterious figure that seems to have emerged from some corner of the crypto world, and its co-founder David Kostiner may have rich resources in the IP field - he is the managing partner of Counsel LLP, a boutique law firm in San Francisco, focusing on entertainment, intellectual property and business law.
Completed $10.95 Million Deposit Activity, Aria Premiere Launch Promises 30% APY
Aria Protocol collaborated with StakeStone to launch the Aria Premiere Launch deposit activity on LiquidityPad, which was announced to have completed a $10.95 million deposit activity on February 18 this year. It is understood that 4,156 wallets participated within 7 days, and these funds will be used to acquire iconic IP assets from the real world, such as partial copyrights of songs released by Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, BLACKPINK, JISOO, and others.
Aria Premiere Launch is currently one of the entry points for users to participate in this game, supported by Aria and the Story Ecosystem, allowing users to deposit stablecoins to participate in the release of real-world IP assets.
Participants can unlock StakeStone rewards, Story rewards, and Aria Points, and become part of the new protocol that brings iconic works into the blockchain. Users deposit USDC or USDT on the Ethereum mainnet to not only receive StakeStone and Story Protocol rewards, but also Aria Points (which can be exchanged for Aria tokens in the future). After 3 months, users can burn their LP tokens on the Story mainnet within 3 months to claim their RWIP tokens, while the deposits will be locked before that. Once the RWIP tokens are claimed, they can be traded on DEXs, used as collateral in lending markets, and staked on the Story mainnet to earn further rewards. When the RWIP tokens are available for claiming, any unused or remaining funds will also be claimed in the form of USDC on the Story mainnet proportionally.
According to Aria Protocol's estimates, the annualized yield (APY) for participants may reach as high as 30%, while the yield of some IP RWA is around 7%.
Aria Protocol has gradually acquired partial copyrights of several popular songs, including Justin Bieber's "Peaches", Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa's "Prisoner", Maroon 5's "Nobody's Love", and Katy Perry's "Daisies". The copyrights of these songs have been tokenized, and users can trade and stake them on Aria Protocol's platform.
The Imagination Space of a Hit Song? Revenue Exceeding $100 Million
Let's revisit the first question at the beginning - does Justin Bieber's popular "Peaches" have anything to do with you?
The sales and profit estimates for Justin Bieber's "Peaches" are as follows, according to AI predictions:
- Sales
- Streaming: Aria Protocol's data shows that "Peaches" has accumulated over 2.5 billion plays on major music platforms globally. Based on the average payment standard of streaming platforms (about $3-5 per thousand plays), the streaming revenue alone could reach $75 million to $125 million.
- Sales Certification: In the US, "Peaches" has received a 4x platinum sales certification. According to the RIAA standard, 1x platinum certification is equivalent to 1 million sales (including physical sales, digital downloads, and streaming-equivalent sales). Therefore, 4x platinum means the equivalent sales volume of "Peaches" in the US is at least 4 million. Assuming an average single price of $1.29, the sales in the US alone could reach $5.16 million.
- Global Sales: Considering the global popularity of "Peaches", its global sales volume may far exceed the US market. Assuming the global sales are 2-3 times that of the US, the global sales could reach $10 million to $15 million.
- Profit Estimates
- Streaming Revenue: The revenue distribution of streaming platforms is usually 30% for the platform and 70% for the record label, publisher, and artist. Assuming the streaming revenue of "Peaches" is $100 million, the artist and copyright holders could receive $70 million.
- Sales and Download Revenue: The revenue distribution of digital downloads and physical sales is similar, with the artist and copyright holders likely receiving about 70% of the revenue. Assuming the global sales are $15 million, the artist and copyright holders could receive $10.5 million.
- Other Revenue: Including advertising, commercial licensing, concerts, and other derivative revenue. Assuming this part of the revenue is $5 million.
Combining the above data, the total revenue of "Peaches" could reach $120 million to $150 million, and the profit for the artist and copyright holders could be between $85.5 million and $110 million.
Of course, that's all in the past. But based on the preliminary calculations, it seems that tokenizing a series of popular songs' partial copyrights, allowing investors and fans to share the revenue, could potentially achieve a 30% APY.
Expand your imagination, and you may not just be listening to Justin Bieber's "Peaches" anymore, but you can also take a bite of the "peach".
