What is Audius The Music Streaming Blockchain Platform [Solana Series]

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Hey, welcome to today’s episode. Today is another awesome episode in the Solana series and it’s all about Audius. What is Audius? the community owned music streaming network on Solana. So without further ado, let’s jump into it. Audius was founded in 2018, and it’s a decentralized music streaming service with a social networking component. It allows artists to upload their songs to the app and connects fans directly to artists and exclusive new music. On a technical level. It is a blockchain protocol that allows artists to produce immutable time stamped records of their creative works secured by a decentralized network of node operators. Audius was originally built on POA network and Ethereum sidechain and later moved parts of its service to the Solana blockchain, developers can build their own apps on top of Audius giving them access to a unique audio catalog. Audius launched its main net service in October of 2020. With a live stream concert featuring two artists. Let’s break down some of the benefits and features. So Audius is built for artists; Audius differs from other music streaming services because it is based on blockchain, which shapes how the whole system works. Artists can upload their tracks at no cost and users can listen to them for free, while everyone earns cryptocurrencies, or money if you will.

There is no selection process to get started as an artist, so users can immediately upload their own songs, just clicking Upload track after signing up for free, dropping their music files and artwork. Audius’ lack of centralized control also provides a safe haven for artists from places that don’t have as much freedom to express themselves. So this is one advantage. There is a lack of a monetization program so that I guess that could be considered a disadvantage. The protocol has yet to work out more regular monetization policies consistent with his plans to distribute 90% of the token supply to its artists. There’s also a lack of a copyright system. Since Audius content is distributed on decentralized nodes, copyright protection cannot be applied for the time being. So how does Audius work? Audius functions as a music cooperative with the token aligning incentives among the three different groups that make up the network, the node operators, the artists and the fans. Because Audius is based on blockchain, it operates through a decentralized network of nodes that host content.

So these are content nodes, and index the information via discovery nodes. And of course, as a blockchain project, it comes with a cryptocurrency Audius Network is powered by Ethereum based ERC 20 token, the Audius or AUDIO token, the word audio. That’s the token. So what can users listen to with Audius in essence, it’s an indie platform, but major label artists are also welcome. There just over 100,000 artists on Audius. Typically artists start with one or two tracks and then build on them as they receive positive feedback from fans on the platform and larger name artists have been joining the project and putting their work in the system. Another feature of Audius, that it’s not usually common in the industry is the collaboration between artists and fans, through remix contests, allowing for even more specialized tracks to be enjoyed. In August of 2021 Audius was chosen as one of Tiktok’s partners for its sound kit functionality, which allow songs to be transferred to its platform. 75% of Tiktok users in the United States say that they use the app as a means of discovering new music, which is probably also true for its global user base of 730 million. Audius was founded by Forrest Browning. Forrest is a Forbes 30 under 30 recipient and most recently was a co founder of Stacksware, which is an enterprise data center management platform started from a Stanford University research project.

So let’s break down the AUDIO token. The token serves three functions, network security, exclusive features and governance. So with network security node operators block tokens to manage a node, and in return get rewards from the network. With exclusive features, performers get premium features by locking the token, such as displaying NFT collectibles on the site. And with governance block tokens are required to vote on proposals and make changes via those proposals. The platform automatically reward certain achievements with AUDIO tokens like top five songs of the week, top five songs, top five playlists, top 10 apps in API. From time to time, the protocol also releases generous amounts of AUDIO tokens based on a formula that takes into account not only the number of listens, but also the level of social engagement the artist has shown. AUDIO tokens are listed and exchangeable with other cryptocurrencies on a number of exchange platforms, including Binance, FTX, gate.io, and decentralized exchanges, also known as dexes, like uniswap. So I hope today’s episode has been informative for you. Definitely like and subscribe the podcast and chime in here tomorrow for a very special episode. Until then, make it a great day.

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