INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
plus $5.5 million in A-list venture capital
Music makers can upload their songs at no cost, and users can browse, follow and get listening recommendations
The catalog is small to start, with just a few hundred artists, but Audius has big plans for how to lure artists choosing between other
protocol built on the blockchain, not that users need to be versed in cryptocurrency or do anything special to sign up
lawsuits and record label pressure
these might rise in value if the service grows popular.Audius is completely free for listening at high-quality 320kbps
But in early 2020, the startup plans to let artists opt into requiring users to occasionally listen to ads or pay a few dollars per month
for an Audius subscription
Ninety percent of revenue will go to the artists and 10% to the node operators, and there are also plans to cut in playlist curators
empowering artists through supporting direct relationships with fans, censorship resistance, and fair pay is so important in a time when
Other artists like Zeds Dead, Mr
Carmack and Rezz have pledged to put some exclusive music on Audius, ranging from finished tracks to rough drafts
They were attracted by the promise of bigger and faster payouts, plus a transparent copyright takedowns process.The biggest challenge for
Audius will be playing catch-up recruiting artists and listeners over a decade after SoundCloud launched and when Spotify already has 108
million paying subscribers from its 232 million users
check out trending artists and playlists
At least sign up is easier than most blockchain apps, requiring merely an email address or Twitter sign-in, though crypto kids can use
But if Audius does grow, it has a savvy approach to preventing unnecessary content takedowns
Rumburg claims an estimated 80% of takedowns on apps like SoundCloud and YouTube are not actually infringing copyright, leading to great
Owners can be reassigned the revenue being earned by a song rather than have it taken down
And instead of pulling down a whole DJ set, the rights-holder of a five-minute song in an hour-long mix would get 1/12 of the proceeds
rights-holders can approach the operators of nodes hosting the music and file a local equivalent of a DMCA takedown request, though the
music might still live on other nodes beyond the law
In that case, rights-holders file a complaint to the Audius arbitration committee made up of users
That group can vote on whether a track legally should be removed or its revenue reattributed, and both plaintiffs and committee members must
approach to censorship actually flies with the law
If so, it could give artists confidence in joining Audius that they lack elsewhere
Many are frustrated after constantly having to rebuild their audience on different platforms, from Myspace to iTunes to Spotify to
SoundCloud, especially if their tracks are disappearing
funding from General Catalyst and Lightspeed, Audius has plans for additional tools that could make it and artists money
From being able to crowdfund future albums to selling merchandise or VIP experiences, Audius could become a gateway to spending on
The founders say they hope other people will build Pandora-style radio clients, music discovery apps and more listening options through its
APIs.Rumburg and Browning met the summer after high school at a camp of Stanford admits
Throughout college, the recent graduates got deeper into dance music subgenres by devouring everything on SoundCloud
But watching their favorite artists get music kicked off that app while their DJ friends struggled to break through the algorithms, Rumburg
But by decentralizing control and funneling money directly to creators, Audius may code its way into music culture.
