# Towards a New Business Model for Streaming Platforms Using Blockchain Technology
## 1 Introduction
The inherent characteristics of blockchain, including its decentralized and tamper-resistant nature, offer a promising avenue for guaranteeing the authenticity and integrity of data transactions on the Internet. Blockchain technology has been applied in various areas [12; 13], and researchers have leveraged its fundamental principles and characteristics to propose innovative solutions for the digital entertainment industry [14]. However, there are still challenges and research opportunities [15]. One current concern is the lack of transparency and traceability regarding video streaming platforms' implementation of audience service metrics, such as the number of views, retention rate, and viewer count. The lack of clarity on how monetization metrics are calculated to compensate content creators generates insecurity and dissatisfaction among the parties involved. Addressing these challenges as the streaming landscape evolves is essential to ensure a fair, accountable, and efficient digital entertainment ecosystem. This research focuses on developing a solution that contributes to the business model of video streaming platforms, enabling content creators access to viewing metrics, payment to the parties involved without the intermediary of third parties, and traceability of payment transactions. To minimize the impacts of designing a new video streaming solution, we propose an intermediate layer with blockchain technology that allows for integration with solutions available on the market and offers monitoring capabilities for content creators. This article presents a new computational architecture based on blockchain technology, enabling transparency in audience management and payments in video streaming platforms. The proposed solution aims to improve the current state-of-the-art by creating a tool that makes business rules between video streaming platforms and stakeholders more transparent and auditable. The business rules of the streaming services will be defined using smart contracts, while middleware will integrate the metadata of the video streaming platforms with the proposed computational solution. A comprehensive set of actions was undertaken to validate the proposed computational solution. Initially, data transactions were processed to assess the functionalities developed across different blockchain networks. Furthermore, interviews were conducted with content creators from video streaming platforms. The combination of these efforts yielded promising results, confirming the viability of blockchain technology in enhancing transparency and auditability within the realm of audience control services and paymentson streaming platforms. The findings not only underline the potential of blockchain to change current practices but also highlight its ability to instill a higher degree of trust and accountability in the digital entertainment landscape. The other sections of this article are organized as follows: Section 2 discusses the main works found in the state-of-the-art. Section 3 comprises interviews with content creators discussing the business models adopted by video streaming platform companies. Section 4 presents the proposed computational solution for streaming platforms using blockchain technology. Section 5 discusses the main results of the evaluations, including computational experiments and interviews with content creators. Finally, Section 6 presents the final considerations of this work, comments on the threats to the validity of this study, and suggests future work.