Imaginaries of decentralized media and rights infrastructures: Alternative approaches to industry disruption and public value creation in Europe

This study is motivated by the need to understand how emerging blockchain-based data infrastructures are envisioned by their designers to create public value for Europe’s media and creative industries as well as societies, particularly amid persistent concerns about fair remuneration and data sovereignty. Conceptually, it draws on institutional cryptoeconomics – treating blockchain as a new institutional layer that coordinates industry evolution – and public value theory, highlighting collaborative and socially beneficial outcomes. The central inquiry is how alternative imaginaries of decentralization – some disruptive, some integrative – shape the future of media data infrastructures. Methodologically, the paper compares two European firms, White Rabbit and Valunode, building on 34 semi-structured interviews alongside multi-year observational data. Findings reveal that radical, peer-to-peer imaginaries aim to disintermediate gatekeepers but often collide with entrenched legal frameworks, while standards-driven imaginaries ally with policymakers and established stakeholders, favoring gradual reforms and widespread adoption. The study demonstrates how distinct, but co-evolving, sociotechnical visions could determine the pathways and possibilities for generating meaningful public value by media data infrastructures.