A new blockchain startup – Audius has released its blockchain-based public beta version of the music streaming service.
The Audius platform is set to be Spotify and SoundClouds new competitor, as it aims to eliminate the back drop of middlemen in the music industry. Audius is currently running an open source code and incentive program for early users to join its network and earn rewards in the Audius native cryptocurrency dubbed Loud; as it prepares to open its doors to the public.
See the Audius code on GitHub.
According to the company, anyone who wants to run a node on Audius can setup and register on the network. In doing so the user can start earning a share of revenue generated from music sales.
At this time, Audius says it has a number of artists registered on its network who are now able to sell their music and engage directly with fans.
The role of blockchain technology in music is aimed at getting the artiste’s work to a larger audience. And with the increasing consumption of music by individuals daily, these play numbers are yet to resonate in higher profits for artistes; who now have limited control of their music due to internet technology and peer-to-peer sharing websites.
Artistes are currently faced with a four-fold problem which includes:
These factors have placed the biggest contributors to the music industry (artistes) at a loss in the music profit chain. Many like Iyanya, Kizz Daniel and more have called out their record labels citing music contracts as ‘monkey-dey-work-baboon-dey-chop’. Others have expressed dissatisfaction with music blogs such as Naijaloaded, who have in turn responded by including links to paid platforms for music downloads.
In all, the introduction of blockchain technology and decentralized music sharing services could change all of that. Just like Audius, other blockchain-music platforms such as Ujo, eMusic, Bitsong; look to maximize profits and ensure fair share of rights and music royalties for artistes. There is also the idea to include rewards through tokenization on these platforms; hence all in the music chain get their contributions worth.
These decentralized music services are in line with the opinions of ethereum (ETH) co-founder Joseph Lubin who had earlier suggested the use of blockchain technology (ethereum blockchain) in the music industry for the benefit of artistes. Lubin states:
I think artists in the music industry on average capture about 11 or 12 percent of the value in the industry and those big record companies are sucking 70 or so percent. We can replace those record companies with smart contracts on the Ethereum platform.”
While the fusion of both blockchain technology and the music industry is in its early stages, crucial elements for adoption will be the design of easy-to-use platforms for non-crypto or techie people, as well as proper sensitization on the benefits of blockchain technology in the music industry.
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